India asks BRICS to "live up" commitments on territorial integrity

New Delhi, May 20: With China chairing the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said "BRICS has repeatedly affirmed respect for sovereign equality, territorial integrity and international law and we must live up to these commitments."

 

 

This statement by Jaishankar comes in the backdrop of the India-China border conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. New Delhi has consistently highlighted the importance of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

 

 

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the foreign ministers “discussed the situation in Ukraine and supported talks between Russia and Ukraine”. It also added the leaders expressed concern at the energy and food security implications of the conflict.

 

Jaishankar ighlighted eight key points including Ukraine issue, socio-economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. In a series of tweets, he said, "BRICS must display zero tolerance for terrorism, especially cross border terrorism. The Covid pandemic followed by the Ukraine conflict is causing enormous socio-economic hardships in the developing world. We need resilient and reliable supply chains, economic decentralization. Global recovery should advance food and energy security and prioritize health, digital and green growth.

 

 

The Ministers expressed strong condemnation of terrorism whenever, wherever, and by whom-so-ever and also expressed commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists. Jaishankar again raised the issue of terrorism. "Terrorism in all forms and manifestations should be condemned. We must crackdown on all support, including financing."

 

The meeting was attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto Franco França, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Grace Naledi. The meeting was hosted by China.

 

 

The MEA said the BRICS foreign ministers supported the call for advancing the process of reform and greater representation of developing countries in the international organisations and multilateral fora, including the UN and its Security Council, so that they could play an important role in global governance.

 

“They reiterated that the BRICS countries shall continue work together to contain the spread and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the leading role of the WHO in combating the pandemic; the importance of the ongoing discussions in the WTO including on TRIPS waiver proposal; and called for the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda,” it said.

 

“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. In this regard, they recalled the adoption in 2021 of the revised terms of reference for guiding BRICS engagement,” the MEA said.