Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for the removal of the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS countries and set an ambitious target of helping 100 BRICS startups scale into other member markets every year, as India sought to turn the grouping into a more practical platform for business and economic cooperation.Addressing the BRICS Business Forum here at Bharat Mandapam, Modi also called for the creation of 1,000 new business partnerships among BRICS countries and said progress on all three targets should be reviewed annually.“As BRICS enters its third decade, I would urge the BRICS Business Council to consider three questions: Can you prepare a report on removing the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS countries? Can we support 100 BRICS startups every year to scale up in other BRICS markets? Can we develop 1,000 new partnerships among our businesses? We must review our progress every year on all three parameters,” Modi said.Highlighting the growing economic weight of the grouping, Modi said BRICS and its partner countries now formed a 21-country family, representing 50 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of global GDP and more than 25 per cent of world trade.”…while global GDP has grown about two-and-a-half times during these years, the combined GDP of BRICS countries has grown nearly four-and-a-half times. This means that the economic strength of BRICS has grown at nearly twice the pace of the world economy,” he said.With BRICS entering its third decade, Modi said the grouping must focus on measurable outcomes and translate its growing economic strength into concrete global solutions.The Prime Minister said India’s BRICS chairship was focused on “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” and stressed the need to reduce trade barriers and create greater opportunities for businesses.“Today, when trade barriers are increasing in the world, India is building economic bridges,” he said, noting that India had entered into free trade agreements with nearly 40 countries since 2014.Under its BRICS chairship, India has established cooperation networks in agriculture, health care, skills and smart grids, besides initiatives such as the BRICS Incubator Network, BRICS MSME Portal and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund.Modi also highlighted India’s startup ecosystem, saying the country now had more than 2 lakh startups and over 120 unicorns. He urged BRICS countries to take such innovations to global markets.Calling India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) a model of “innovation at population scale”, Modi said 50 per cent of the world’s real-time payments were now taking place through the technology. “Innovators from BRICS countries can also draw on this experience to develop new solutions for their own countries,” he said.He also stressed the importance of secure sea lanes, open supply routes and safety of seafarers for global trade, and reaffirmed India’s support for freedom of navigation.The Prime Minister also urged greater participation of women entrepreneurs in the BRICS growth story. Nearly 200 women business leaders participated in the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance meeting held in India.