BRICS Foreign Ministers hold virtual meeting
Countering terrorism and the need for an enhanced BRICS cooperation regarding the issue was another major Indian concern that was highlighted in the virtual meeting.
By Adithyan Nair
On September 4th 2020, foreign ministers of the five member states of the BRICS grouping – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – held a meeting via video conference convened by Russia, which is the current BRICS chair.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergey Lavrov, chaired the meeting. Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs represented India. Amb. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China and Grace Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, represented the respective BRICS countries.
The meeting, which is traditionally held in the capital of the BRICS Chair, was convened via video conference due to ongoing pandemic.The Ministers discussed possible BRICS cooperation on international fora including on key issues on the 75 UNGA agenda.
Dr. S. Jaishankar highlighted the important role that the BRICS had to play in the wake of grave challenges in economic, political and social/health fields. He also spoke about the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative of the Indian government as a dynamic and mutually beneficial global economic engagement, covering five key pillars, including – economy, infrastructure, technology, demography and demand, to help achieve rapid growth and development, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The minister also emphasized the need to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), stressing the need for the expansion of the Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories. He also called for reformed multilateralism including reform of international bodies like UN, WTO, IMF, WHO etc.
Countering terrorism and the need for an enhanced BRICS cooperation regarding the issue was another major Indian concern that was highlighted in the virtual meeting.
As the BRICS chair in 2021, Dr. Jaishankar reassured his counterparts that India will continue to work to strengthen the intra-BRICS cooperation in all three pillars- political and security, economic and trade, and people to people.
The BRICS consists of five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Economists believe that these are the countries that will be the future dominant suppliers of manufactured goods, services, and raw materials by 2050. China and India will become the world’s dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, respectively, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials. As of 2010, South Africa joined the group.
The last BRICS meeting was held in Brazil on 13-14 November 2019. The meeting involved discussions about strengthening of the cooperation in science, technology and innovation, enhancement of the cooperation on digital economy, invigoration of the cooperation on the fight against transnational crime, especially against organized crime, money laundering, and drug trafficking, and encouragement to the rapprochement between the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Business Council.
This meeting was scheduled to be held earlier but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is also taking place in the backdrop of violent military confrontation between two key BRICS member states on their undemarcated borders – India and China. EAM has stated that India will work to strengthen the intra-BRICS relations when it undertakes the position as the Chair in 2021. The smooth transition towards a better India-China relation in the BRICS cooperation is yet to be seen.
The Indian External Affairs Minister is scheduled to travel to Moscow for a meeting of the ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Defense Ministerr. Rajnath Singh is already in Moscow to attend the SCO Defense Ministers’ meet.
Russia is also the chair of the SCO this year.
