Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said, reform process is bound to face resistance and wanted it to be insulated from political pressures. Making a strong pitch for economic reforms, Modi told fellow G-20 leaders at a Retreat in Brisbane that reforms should lead to simplification of processes and that methods of governance must be reformed.

The retreat was hosted by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the Queensland Parliament House where the leaders met without aides shortly before the annual summit of the 20 industrialised and major economies kicked off at the Brisbane Convention Centre in the afternoon. Mr. Modi said, reform is bound to face resistance and must be insulated from political pressures.

Asserting that reform must be people-centric and people-driven, the Prime Minister said globally, reforms are handicapped with perception of being government programmes and a burden on the people and this needs to change. He felt that reforms should lead to simplification of processes and that governance methods must be reformed.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters Friday that Prime Minister Abbott had specially requested Modi to outline his vision for reforms at the informal meeting of G-20 leaders at the retreat in addition to his intervention at the main summit.