IRIA News

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) met virtually on June 23 to discuss post-pandemic economic cooperation and Russia-Ukraine war.

BRICS leaders including the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Summit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who chaired the meeting, gave welcoming remarks where he noted that despite the difficult situations and complex circumstances, the BRICS mechanism had demonstrated resilience and vitality.

Several matters of importance were discussed by the participants ranging from the Russia-Ukraine war, post-pandemic economic cooperation, and policy coordination to counter-terrorism and terror finance networks. Some significant highlights of the 14th BRICS summit are:

BRICS supports dialogue between Russia and Ukraine

Amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions and war in Ukraine, the BRICS nations have supported diplomacy and dialogue to find solutions. Three (China, India, and South Africa) of the five BRICS nations have abstained from voting on the United Nations resolution that condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The joint declaration from the 14th BRICS summit stated that “We support talks between Russia and Ukraine. We have also discussed our concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed our support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies, and ICRC to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality, and impartiality.”

President Xi called on BRICS members to reject the ‘cold-war mentality’

While delivering his remarks during the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on all BRICS members to reject the ‘cold-war mentality and power politics’, as he sees it to be a hurdle in achieving global peace. He also said that the ongoing war in Ukraine is an ‘alarm’ for the world. He further warned that “expanding military alliances and seeking one’s own security at the expense of other countries’ security” would destroy the global peace efforts.

Cooperation for post-pandemic economic recovery

During his opening remarks, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the need for post-pandemic economic recovery efforts and urged all the leaders from the BRICS countries to play a role in it by deepening the economic ties with each other.

The BRICS declaration also stressed the importance of coordinated efforts in order to mitigate the economic setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We reaffirm our commitment to continuing to enhance macro-economic policy coordination, deepen economic practical cooperation, and work to realize strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive post-COVID economic recovery,” the BRICS declaration read.

Countering international terror financing and drug trafficking

All the BRICS leaders unanimously reiterated that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization, or ethnic group. The BRICS declaration called for a treaty proposal that would allow the member states to carry out multilateral coordination in order to counter terrorism and terror financing networks.

The summit also expressed concern over the serious drug situation in the world. “We appreciate BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group’s active role in combating transnational drug trafficking and promoting global drug governance and will further strengthen drug control cooperation,” said the BRICS declaration.

Establishment of BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance

BRICS nations decided to establish the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance. ”We expect it to work independently and provide intellectual support, as and when tasked, for knowledge sharing, exchange of experiences and practices, and cooperation on finance issues amongst BRICS countries,” the declaration stated.