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14th BRICS Summit

Posted on June 24, 2022 by admin1  1169

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  • Recently the 14th BRICS Summit which was held virtually came up with the Beijing Declaration.

Major Highlights of the meet:

  • Beijing Declaration:
    • It states that BRICS supports talks between Russia and Ukraine. 
    • The grouping is willing to support the United Nations’ and ICRC’s (The International Committee of the Red Cross) efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
    • Countries also expressed concerns about the situation in Taliban-held Afghanistan.
  • Russia’s Response :
    • Russia made a veiled attack on the US and European countries for using financial mechanisms and to “shift their own mistakes” in economic policies to the rest of the world. 
  • China’s position:
    • Chinese President called on members to reject the “Cold war mentality” and oppose what he called the US and EU’s “unilateral sanctions”.
    • The Chinese president also called for a larger security alliance within BRICS, underlining that Beijing would like to work with the grouping to operationalise the Global Security Initiative (GSI).
      • Proposed by China in May this year, the GSI aims to be an Asian security framework that replaces “confrontation, alliance and a zero-sum approach with dialogue, partnership and win-win results”.
  • On terrorism: 
    • BRICS countries reiterated that only the UN Security Council has the authority for imposing sanctions.
  • On Afghanistan:
    • BRICS countries called for Afghanistan authorities to achieve national reconciliation through dialogue and negotiation.
    • And advised to establish a broad-based and inclusive and representative political structure. 
    • It also added that Afghan territory must not be used to shelter terrorists or attack any other country. 
  • India’s stand:
    • The Indian PM focussed on the importance of BRICS in the post-pandemic global economic recovery. 
  • Target of G7:
    • The summit comes just days ahead of the G-7 summit in Germany, which PM Modi and South African President Ramaphosa will also attend, where western countries are expected to deliberate on tighter sanctions against Russia.

BRICS:

  • Members: 
    • It is an association of five major emerging economies; Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
  • Origin: 
    • The term was coined by British Economist Jim O’Neill in 2001, representing emerging economies of the world.
    • The four countries (BRIC) arranged for an annual meeting of Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2006. 
    • The success of the meet led to the crystallisation of an annual summit under the aegis of BRIC.
    • Initially, the grouping was termed BRIC as South Africa was inducted in 2010 and from there on it has been referred to as BRICS.
  • Summits: 
    • The governments of the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits since 2009.
    • India hosted the most recent 13th BRICS summit in 2021 virtually.
  • BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging economies from the world, comprising:
    • 41% of the world population, 
    • 24% of the world GDP 
    • over 16% share in world trade. 
    • Total combined area of 29.3% of the total land surface of the world
  • Over a period of time, BRICS countries have come together to deliberate on important issues under the three pillars of:
    • political and security, 
    • economic and financial and 
    • cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Future prospects 

  • Afghan issue:
    • There is a need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in Afghanistan.
  • Russia-Ukraine conflict:
    • BRICS should play an important role in stabilising the current events on the globe, primarily resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
  • Ensuring a stable macroeconomy: 
    • It can contribute significantly to global economic growth and stability by leveraging NDB, CRA, and 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 world: 
    • 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.
    • There is a strong need for “equity and justice” in multilateral organisations with more investment in poverty alleviation, education, health and food security.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):

  • The International Committee of the Red Cross is a humanitarian organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland
  • It is a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate.
  • Its mission is:
    • To protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance.
    • It also conducts and coordinates international relief and works to promote and strengthen international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.

Source:TH

 
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