- Saturday, April 27, 2024
Ramaphosa also said that the leaders reiterated their commitment to upholding international law and inclusive multilateralism.
By: Shubham Ghosh
SOUTH AFRICAN president Cyril Ramaphosa, who served as the chair of the 15th BRICS summit which concluded in Johannesburg, said while delivering the “Johannesburg Declaration II” at the Sandton Convention Centre that the leaders of the five-nation grouping spoke over its expansion to produce tangible benefits and addressed challenges faced by the Global South, including the need for beneficial economic growth, sustainable development and reforming multilateral systems.
Ramaphosa was joined by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russian president Vladimir Putin took part in the event virtually as he did travel to South Africa due to arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The latest summit was also the first in-person one since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Ramaphosa also said that the leaders reiterated their commitment to upholding international law and inclusive multilateralism.
“We are concerned about ongoing conflicts in many parts of the world. We stress our commitment to the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes through dialogue and inclusive consultation,” he said, South Africa’s TimesLIVE reported.
He also said the BRICS leadership encouraged multilateral financial institutions and international organisations to play a key role in building global consensus on economic policies.
“We have noted there is global momentum for the use of local currencies, alternative financial arrangements and alternative payment systems,” the South African leader added.
He also said that the BRICS grouping is ready to look into opportunities for improving the “stability, reliability and fairness” of the international financial architecture. According to him, the summit decided to task the finance ministers and central bank governors to consider the issues of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms and give reports to the leaders by the time the next summit arrives.
The next summit will be held in Kazan in Russia in 2024.
Ramaphosa said the BRICS leaders adopted the declaration reflecting key positions of the grouping on matters of international economic, political and financial importance.
He also spoke about the expansion of the grouping and said the five members agreed on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures.
Ramaphosa announced that six countries — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — were invited to become the bloc’s full members.
Their membership will take effect on January 1, 2024.
The president also said the foreign ministers of BRICS have been asked to develop the BRICS partner country model and a list of prospective partner nations and report by the Kazan gathering next year.
