The BRICS Summit set to be held in South Africa from August 22-24 is taking place at a critical juncture in geopolitics. India as one of the founding members of the BRICS is set to play an important role in pushing for the establishment of a true multipolar world order, South Africa-based news website IOL reported citing The Star. BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
India wants BRICS to take a constructive stance on contemporary issues amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sifiso Mahlangu wrote in the IOL report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strong advocate of dialogue and diplomacy as a means to end the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
India has stressed that BRICS should adhere to the concept of sovereignty and territorial integrity. India also wants BRICS to play a proactive role in countering cross-border terror and combating terror financing as was witnessed during the recently held BRICS NSA meeting in Johannesburg, IOL reported citing The Star. Terrorism is considered one of the key threats to international peace and security.
At the recently held BRICS NSA meeting in Johannesburg, NSA Ajit Doval said that listing terrorists and their proxies under the UN counter-terrorism sanctions was an area where BRICS countries could work together.
He called it important that the decision-making of the UN Security Council sanctions committee be free from politicisation and double standards. He stressed that the meeting was being held at a time of instability in the international security environment.
In his address at the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting in Cape Town in June, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke about the significance of BRICS as a “symbol of change” and emphasised the need for a serious and constructive approach to constructive issues.
He called for the promotion of inclusive and decentralised economic practices to ensure global political democratisation.
He said, “Our gathering must send a resolute message that the world is multipolar, undergoing rebalancing and that traditional approaches are inadequate for addressing new realities. As a symbol of change, we must act accordingly.”
Jaishankar emphasised the vulnerability faced by many nations due to the economic concentration in the hands of a few rich nations.
He even mentioned recent cases that countries have tackled while addressing their health, energy, and food security needs as illustrations of this fragility, IOL reported citing The Star.
In his address at the previous sitting of the BRICS Summit, PM Modi spoke about India’s development partnerships with Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.
He stressed that India is committed to a free open, inclusive, and rules-based maritime space, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and reform of the multilateral system.
Over the years, BRICS nations have played a key role in driving global economic growth. This group, which includes major emerging economies, focuses on economic and financial collaboration, political and security cooperation as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Together, the BRICS nations represent 41 per cent of the world’s population and account for 24 per cent of the global GDP, IOL reported citing The Star.
BRICS members have repeatedly stressed that the current international challenges should be tackled through a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, with a view to intensifying global capacity to effectively address various challenges of the present time and to adapt them to 21st-century realities, IOL reported citing The Star.
In 2022, BRICS agreed that global governance should be more inclusive, representative and participatory to enable greater and more meaningful participation of developing and the least developed nations, particularly Africa, in global decision-making processes and structures, Sifiso Mahlangu wrote in the IOL report.
BRICS nations have also called for governance reform in the recruitment processes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by ensuring that the selection is done through an open and merit-based process.
