Johannesburg - The forthcoming BRICS Summit to be held in South Africa from August 22-24 takes place at a critical juncture in geopolitics, and India as one of the founding members of the BRICS is set to play a key role in pushing for the establishment of a true multipolar world order.
India wants BRICS to take a constructive approach to contemporary issues amid the global upheaval surrounding the Ukraine conflict, and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. This message will be delivered unambiguously at the summit.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strong advocate of dialogue and diplomacy as a means to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. India has also been insistent that BRICS should adhere to the concept of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India would also want BRICS to play a proactive role in countering cross-border terror, and combating terror financing as was evident from the recently held BRICS NSA meeting in Johannesburg. Terrorism is seen as one of the key threats to international peace and security. Terror organisations in the Af-Pak region continue to operate with impunity, Indian NSA Ajit Doval said at the BRICS NSA meeting held under the aegis of the South African Presidency.
He said that listing terrorists and their proxies under the UN counter-terrorism sanctions regime was an area where BRICS countries could work together. It was also important that the decision making of the UN Security Council sanctions committee be free from politicisation and double standards, he said. Doval noted that the meeting was being held at a time of instability In the international security environment. The global security situation was marked by uncertainty and rising tensions, even as global economies were still recovering from the after-effects of the pandemic. Securing cyberspace was yet another area where India would like BRICS to focus, given the challenges in this regard.
Addressing the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting in Cape Town in June, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar noted the significance of BRICS as a “symbol of change”, and emphasised the need for a serious and constructive approach to contemporary issues. Jaishankar called for the promotion of inclusive and decentralised economic practices to ensure global political democratisation.
“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 told the BRICS foreign ministers. He added that the five-nation grouping comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was not only an expression of multipolarity, but of the many and diverse ways of meeting international challenges.
At the Cape Town meeting the Indian external affairs minister had emphasised the vulnerability faced by many nations due to the economic concentration in the hands of a few rich countries. He cited recent cases in which countries have battled to meet their health, energy, and food security needs, as illustrations of this fragility.
In his speech at the previous sitting of the BRICS Summit, Modi mentioned India’s development partnerships with Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and all the way down to the Caribbean; India’s commitment to a free open, inclusive, and rules-based maritime space; respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean region; and reform of the multilateral system as most of Asia, Africa, and Latin America lacked a voice in global decision-making.
Over the years, the BRICS countries have played a pivotal role in driving global economic growth. This group, consisting of major emerging economies, focuses on political and security co-operation, economic and financial collaboration, as as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Collectively, the BRICS nations represent 41% of the world’s population, hold 24% of the global GDP, and account for over 16% of global trade.
On the subject of the expansion of BRICS, India has sought wider consultation with all stakeholders and expressed support for such a move. India’s close partner in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, is among the key contenders to become a new member of BRICS once the criteria for additional membership is fixed.
BRICS members have repeatedly said that the current international challenges should be addressed through a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, especially of the UN and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the World Health Organization, with a view to enhancing global capacity to effectively address the diverse challenges of our time and to adapt them to 21st century realities.
Last year, BRICS agreed that global governance should be more inclusive, representative and participatory to facilitate the greater and more meaningful participation of developing and the least developed countries, especially in Africa, in global decision-making processes and structures, making it better attuned to contemporary realities.
BRICS has also repeatedly called for governance reform in the recruitment processes of the World Bank and the IMF by ensuring selection is done through an open and merit-based process, noting that the true potential of the bank and the fund would be realised only by building more democratic governance structures and strengthening their financial capacity.
The Star