Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's closing remarks at the 2nd IBSA Summit

"I am happy to say that our deliberations today were most fruitful. We have discussed ways of pooling our strengths and limited resources to maximum benefit. This gives me confidence that the IBSA process is moving into a phase where our trilateral collaboration will show concrete results.

IBSA is a unique model of trans-national cooperation. Our three countries come from three different continents but share similar world views and aspirations. If we can make a success of our model of cooperation based on collective self-reliance, it will serve as an example for all developing countries.

We have today found a renewed convergence of interests on major international issues of contemporary importance. We need to forge the closest cooperation possible, so that we can together ensure a more equitable international political and economic order. The world is already looking upon the IBSA framework as a significant step forward in the emergence of a global partnership for development.

We had a constructive discussion on the Doha Round of trade talks. This has emerged as an important issue facing the international community, in which each of our countries has an important stake. We committed ourselves to working towards securing a balanced and successful outcome of the talks.

The IBSA process has enabled parliamentarians, civil society, academia, mass media, women and other segments of society to engage with each other. We greatly value their contribution in reinforcing the efforts of the three governments. Over a period of time, IBSA should emerge as a peoples' movement.

The high level involvement of business and industry in IBSA is particularly encouraging. Governments can only do so much. We should leverage public-private partnerships to fill funding gaps and increase efficiency in key sectors of our cooperation.

The agreements and the Declaration that we will be signing will provide a new impulse to our cooperation. They reflect our emerging priorities. The implementation of the decisions we have taken should be carefully monitored, and a regular system of feedback should be put in place.

I am confident that under the Chairmanship of South Africa, our joint efforts in the framework of IBSA will acquire even greater resilience and dynamism.

I am most grateful to President Mbeki for the warm and generous hospitality we have received during our stay in this beautiful country."