Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations

Statement by MEA

External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar, chaired the meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations through video conferencing on 1 June, 2021. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Ambassador Carlos Alberto Franco França, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Amb. Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Wang Yi, and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, Ms. Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, led their respective delegations.

The Ministers exchanged views on furthering intra-BRICS cooperation on the three pillars of political and security, economic and finance, and People to people and cultural exchanges. The Ministers also exchanged views on social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministers also discussed the need for reform of the Multilateral System. Ministers also exchanged views on the Global and regional issues of concern, sustainable development, Countering Terrorism besides discussing ways to enhance intra-BRICS cooperation.

On this occasion, they adopted and released the ‘BRICS Joint Ministerial Statement on Strengthening and Reforming of the Multilateral System’ stressing urgent need for comprehensive strengthening and reforming of the entire multilateral architecture, including the United Nations and its principal organs- the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); international financial architecture represented by the IMF and the World bank; the multilateral trading system represented by the WTO and UNCTAD and the global health governance system with the WHO at its core. The Ministers called for making global governance more inclusive, representative and participatory to facilitate greater and more meaningful participation of developing and least developed countries in global decision-making processes and structures and make it better attuned to contemporary realities. The Joint Statement can be found at https://bit.ly/3g3G2RQ.

The Ministers also adopted the Media Statement covering various issues of common interest. The Ministers reviewed progress in intra-BRICS cooperation. The Ministers while discussing the Covid-19 pandemic situation called for timely establishment and operationalization of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Center. The Ministers reiterated their commitment to Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and in this regard, stressed the importance of financing for development, capacity building and transfer of technology to developing countries. The Ministers also expressed their support for Paris Agreement as adopted under the principles of UNFCCC, including that of CBDR-RC. They also called for the comprehensive implementation of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025 through all means for its effective realization.

The Ministers expressed strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, whenever, wherever, and by whom-so-ever committed. They expressed their commitment to fully implement BRICS Counter Terrorism Strategy, including by way of a result-oriented Action Plan.

The Ministers welcomed the developments and meetings in both B2B and P2P formats, and looked forward to greater cooperation in these areas. The Media Statement can be found at https://bit.ly/3i9Zf75 .

BRICS partners appreciated India’s efforts in keeping up the momentum of BRICS cooperation.