BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meet

 In News

• China hosted the virtual BRICS Foreign Ministers meet recently with the Indian External Affairs Minister taking part along with his counterparts from the five-member bloc.

 About

• The meeting was held in the run-up to the annual Summit which will be held later this year by China who holds the presidency of grouping this year.
• The meeting had a BRICS+ dialogue, with counterparts from emerging markets and developing countries who are not part of the grouping.
• This was the first BRICS leaders’ gathering since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Major Deliberations

• Russia-Ukraine conflict: The grouping assessed the situation in Ukraine and supported talks between Russia and Ukraine to reach peace.  They expressed concern at the energy and food security implications of the conflict.
• Respecting territorial integrity: BRICS must live up to its commitments on sovereign equality, territorial integrity and international law.
• Recovery from pandemic: It discussed the socio-economic recovery from the Covid pandemic and ways to create resilience and reliable supply chains.
• Global macroeconomy: The Ukraine conflict has led to sharp increases in the costs of energy, food and commodities. The group pondered over solutions to mitigate the crisis primarily  for the well being of the developing world.
• UNSC Reforms: The group supported UN Security Council reform asserting that the Security Council should reflect the present global realities and giving developing countries a greater say in global governance.
• Climate Action: It pressed for credible commitment of resources by developed nations for climate action and climate justice thus nudging the developed world to exercise their due for a sustainable earth.
• Terrorism: It reiterated to zero tolerance for terrorism, especially cross border terrorism which impacts the regional and global security.
• BRICS+: BRICS foreign ministers’ dialogue was also held with emerging markets and developing countries participating in the meet to broaden their outreach with other developing countries.

BRICS+

• About: 
  • It was first mooted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in 2017 with the objective of widening the ambit of BRICS that can bring unity among developing countries and enhance South-South cooperation.
• Objective: 
  • The initiative is aimed at expanding the outreach of the BRICS countries with the Global South and building wider partnership with emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs).
• Why is it not a permanent arrangement?
  • There is a lack of consensus among the grouping on institutionalising BRICS Plus arrangement.
  • The other four members are wary of China’s hegemony in BRICS and its increasing influence in the Global South.
  • Through the arrangement, China aims at forging regional and bilateral alliances across the continents, which could also be instrumental in pushing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Way Forward

• Stabilsing world: BRICS should play an important role in stabilising the current events on the globe, primarily resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• Ensuring stable macroeconomy: It can contribute significantly to the global economic growth and stability by leveraging NDB, CRA, AIIB. By effectively using the platform it can resolve the deadlock in the Ukraine region and can unclog the supply chain thus bringing prices and supplies to normalcy.
• Post-pandemic: The world is not the same as it was before the pandemic. The forum should harness its position to bring changes in the governance of the developing world so that they can effectively recover from the pandemic after effects.
• Reforming UNSC: It is committed to a multipolar world and hence should steadfast its efforts to bring forth the reforms in the UNSC so as to reflect the geopolitic paradigm of today’s world.

BRICS 2022

• India handed over the BRICS Chairmanship to China in January 2022. India has the chair for the year 2021.
• Theme: The theme for BRICS 2022 is ‘Foster High-Quality BRICS Partnership Usher in a New Era for Global Development’.
• Events: A total of 25 events have been planned for this year’s summit. India will host five events this year as part of BRICS Science Technology Innovation Steering Committee.

Source: TH