Pretoria - South Africa remain committed to multilateral diplomacy, international relations minister Lindiwe Sisulu said on Monday, adding BRICS member countries to reassert their collective responsibility of providing new perspectives and solutions to the current international order.
Speaking at a meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), Sisulu said the strife in Turkey, the migration to Europe, the intensification of conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the re-emergence of national protectionism threatened multilateralism.
"The BRICS forum must reassert its collective responsibility of providing new perspectives and solutions to the current international order. The current global geo-political realities make a meeting of this nature, not only necessary but timely," Sisulu said.
She said multilateralism was under siege and the integrity of international agreements could be hastily and expediently compromised; when more and more countries took an inward-looking position at the expense of others.
"South Africa remains deeply committed to multilateral diplomacy, in principle and in our demonstrable actions," Sisulu said.
South Africa will host the 10th BRICS summit in Durban later this month.