Moscow: BRICS foreign ministers are going to meet virtually on the 4th of September. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will chair the large-format meeting of BRICS foreign ministers during which they will exchange views on topical international matters.
Informing about the schedule of the meeting, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Zakharova said that the September 4th meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers will discuss cooperation between the five countries and broadly cover issues in three areas: politics and security, economics and finance, and humanitarian ties.
The last meeting of BRICS foreign minister was also held virtually and convened by the current BRICS Chair, Russia, on 28th April this year. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had represented India in the meeting. The video conference was convened in the backdrop of the current pandemic crisis and the discussion also centered around COVID-19 crisis, its impact and BRICS response to it.
During the meeting, which was attended by all five members including China, Brazil and South Africa, the group agreed to allocate $ 15 billion to the New Development Bank (NDB) so that it could set up a special loan instrument to support the revival of economies and help meet the emergency expenses incurred for responding to the pandemic.
Since then, Russian authorities have claimed to have developed the vaccine for COVID-19 and have named it Sputnik-5. The vaccine, which has had a mixed response globally in the scientific community about its safety and effectiveness, is in various stages of trial and production and Russia hopes to launch it globally very soon.
From the Indian perspective, it would be the first BRICS FMs meeting since tension heightened along the India-China border in the western sector.
Earlier, EAM Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang YI participated in the Russian-initiated Russia-China-India (RIC) foreign ministers virtual meet on the 23rd of June.
During the RIC meet, without referring to the ongoing border tension, EAM had said, “The leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way. Respecting international law, recognizing the legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism and promoting common good are the only way of building a durable world order.”
