Speech of Purnima Anand, President of the BRICS International Forum to April 6 EIR Roundtable

April 10—The following is the presentation of Purnima Anand, the President of the BRICS International Forum to the April 6 EIR Emergency Roundtable. Subheads have been added.

PURNIMA ANAND: Thank you very much. I am really very happy to meet all of you, I am listening to some very valuable speakers. And thank you to the Schiller Institute for organizing this historical moment, at this very difficult time of the world. Because today we are all actually thinking about what can be done and how we can stop this war. This is a dialogue of civilizations where we have to understand where we have come as a result of this war, and what are our moral values; what is right, and what is wrong.

So, everything is messed up and now such dialogues can bring new light and new hope that we are united, and we are thinking positively to do something on the ground. These are really my congratulations to the Schiller Institute, Madame Helga, and the whole team, because for the last one month you have been continuously organizing such dialogues, and this dialogue is really spreading all over the world. The message is going out.

Nobody But the Schiller Institute Is Doing Anything

During the last two months and also when the Russia-Ukraine war started, I did not find any other peacemaker organizations and peace leaders and peace task forces to make the balance between both countries’ conflict. But now the Schiller Institute is taking this initiative. This is really important and today my presence can be added to this discussion. The BRICS countries are very important, and BRICS countries are able to make the balance between superpowers and the current conflict. Because Iran is a member of BRICS with China and Russia, they are veto power members and I think this is a time of testing for the BRICS countries, when they should showcase their unity; that they are having influence in the world and that they are united and can control the unhappiness happening. It is high time for BRICS nations to become involved, because the main thing is that Iran is not listening, the U.S. is not listening, and the UN is not listening. So how can countries stop it?

Earlier the United Nations Security Council met and they intervened. They either stop such things or conduct the negotiations. But at the current time there is no negotiation, nobody is coming in from the front lines to stop this war. President Trump keeps wasting time, stalling. First, after starting the war, he gave 10 days to Iran to stop it; then he extended that for 5 more days. Today Indian media news is going on about President Trump is pausing this time for 40 days and the Indian bullion market is rising. So this is the information in India, I don’t know what it is in Europe and other countries. But if he is expanding the time, this is also a trick, and this trick is not solving the problem. It is only passing the time while all these countries are in conflict. The Hamas problem is creating economic pressure on all countries, especially the energy crisis. And this energy crisis is not only a world problem, it is a problem of every woman in her house. War is not only affecting the economy of nations, but also individuals as well. In India we are being very highly pressured. We don’t have ready access to cooking and heating gas. This is our situation as a result of this war.

The BRICS Should Act to Stop This War

I would like to say here, we should take steps on behalf of the BRICS countries. I am suggesting that the Schiller Institute get together with other think tanks and organizations, such as our friends speaking here from Beijing, China, and from Iran and Malaysia, all BRICS countries, we can pull them together to make the campaign. We can call on the BRICS nations to organize an urgent meeting in the United Nations. And if the United Nations is not listening, let’s put together our White Paper outside and present it to them, because it is a voice of unity that we cannot leave Iran alone to die. We need all countries together and we want all people to be safe and the conflict should be resolved.

Every conflict has its own conditions. When the Russia-Ukraine crisis started, everybody put much pressure on Russia. They put DASHAN (shadow fleet) sanctions on Russia. At that time, initially, the world did not understand what was at stake for Russia, what was at stake for Ukraine. Everybody was thinking Ukraine is a very small country and Russia is a big country, so Russia must be wrong. But slowly, slowly everybody began to understand that behind Ukraine were America, NATO and Europe, and they were creating the conflict.

Now, this is the same situation why America is supporting Israel, why America is speaking and leading the war actions. So, I think it’s not a time that BRICS countries should say together that America should go in and sanction. Iran has been under sanctions for the last 40 years approximately, but it is sustaining itself because they have oil and they are controlling the Gulf countries’ trade routes. They also have very good relations with China, Russia, India, and other countries. So, this is regional cooperation, where we have various regional and international relations because it is a multi-polar world.

Call All Organizations to Act for Peace

Another point is that Iran is having conflict with Israel due to long time, religious, economic, and geographic problems. But we cannot create such a situation that one country should die or one country should come under pressure from all sides. So, we need to support Iran and through this important platform, I request all the speakers and Madame Helga, that we should create a White Paper and we should call together all nations of the BRICS countries, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Global South countries, together we can raise the voice to stop this war.

I would like to say these words because your topic today is very right: Do we have time to stop this nuclear escalation? I will say yes, all the last minutes are important and in these last minutes we can create new leadership in the world; because the world is divided and it is fracturing. All previous economic trade routes are fracturing. So, we need new leadership and new ideas which can support and bring in a new civilizational order.

We Are Speaking for Civilization, Rejecting War 

You are speaking of civilization. So, I would say now we have already entered into a digital civilization. Everybody is getting information and everybody has the right to share ideas and solutions. So, we can do an internet campaign also, and we can call on leaders through our email strategies. I hope world leaders will listen to us. Every voice is important, and our voice is for the safety and security of Earth. We want to save humanity and the environment of Earth.

So, nuclear escalation is in any case not right, and we want some solution to come from the front-line nations. The American public is also demonstrating [against the war]. Nobody wants humanity to be stricken by nuclear weapons and threaten our future generations. So, thank you very much. I hope this platform will create new hope and solutions for the world. I think you are leading so well for the last many years. During this one month of this war on Iran, your message is going throughout the whole world.

Thank you very much because we have to prevent this nuclear war and we all are together in this mission with you. Thank you very much Madame Helga.