On June 1, 2021, India hosted the 2021 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Foreign Affairs Minister Meeting virtually. External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India, S Jaishankar Chaired the meeting, since India is the Chair of BRICS for the year 2021.
Participants:
Brazil Minister of Foreign Affairs -Carlos Alberto Franco Franca, Russian Foreign Minister -Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister- Wang Yi, and South African Foreign Minister- Naledi Pandor.
Key Highlights:
This was the first time the BRICS’ foreign ministers agreed on a stand-alone joint statement on strengthening and reforming the multilateral system especially the United Nations and its principal organs like,
- UN Security Council and General Assembly,
- International Monetary Fund (IMF),
- World Bank,
- World Trade Organisation (WTO) and
- World Health Organisation (WHO).
BRICS supports proposal by India, South Africa to temporarily waive patents on COVID-19 vaccines
BRICS supported a proposal by India and South Africa to temporarily waive patents on COVID-19 vaccines as it held extensive deliberations on effectively combating the coronavirus crisis.
Background:
In October, 2020, India and South Africa, along with 57 members of WTO proposed a waiver from certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement for prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19.
Joint Statement Issued:
To combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists and vowed to step up joint efforts in building support for an India-backed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).
About BRICS:
BRICS represents 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.
2021 Chair – India
2021 India’s Theme – ‘BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’.
