India has called for joint advocacy among BRICS member countries for standards in international telecom and ICT bodies that are fair and genuinely representative. According to reports from Business Standard, Minister of State for Telecom Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani made these remarks during the BRICS ICT Track Thematic Panel Discussion on "Sustainable and Resilient Digital and ICT Ecosystems: Digital Public Infrastructure for Impact Global South Insights on Powering Public Services and Economic Growth." The minister emphasized that BRICS member countries can build institutional capacity together and advocate for standards that genuinely represent all stakeholders. As reported by The Economic Times, Pemmasani stated that "Let us train our workforce together, and build institutional capacity together. And let us advocate together for standards in international telecom and ICT bodies that are fair, and genuinely representative of us all."
India has offered to share modular, open source frameworks for digital public infrastructure that member states can adapt without rebuilding from the beginning. As reported by Business Standard, Pemmasani stated that these frameworks should be available without prohibitive licensing costs, allowing countries to build upon existing foundational infrastructure rather than starting from scratch. The minister called for partnership among BRICS member countries for building capabilities and workforce training together. According to The Economic Times, Pemmasani highlighted that "Let us build capabilities together, and let us train our workforce together."
The minister outlined India's approach to digital public infrastructure development where governments establish foundational infrastructure while banks, fintechs, merchants and government departments build services on top. According to Business Standard, Pemmasani highlighted that Aadhaar has generated 1.45 billion identities with billions of authentications including e-KYC, bank accounts and SIMs using the Aadhaar framework. He noted that documents issued on digital platform DigiLocker can be treated at par with original physical documents, demonstrating the practical applications of digital infrastructure. As reported by The Economic Times, Pemmasani explained that "Instead of the government trying to build every consumer application, the government and its public institutions establish a foundational infrastructure."
Pemmasani emphasized that digital public infrastructure is a necessity for sustainable development across the Global South rather than a luxury for developed economies. As reported by Business Standard, he stated that digital systems built for equity, resilience and sustainability move people out of poverty, move economies forward, and move our planet toward a safer future. The thematic panel session included participation from Frederico de Siqueira Filho, Minister of Communications of Brazil, and Mondli Gungubele, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies of South Africa. According to The Economic Times, the session witnessed participation of distinguished international dignitaries and BRICS representatives among other ministerial delegates and global technology leaders.
