Policy Alert #236 | September 13, 2021
On September 9, 2021, the 13th BRICS Summit was held via videoconference, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme of the Summit, chosen by India, was BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus. The Summit saw the participation of all BRICS leaders – President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Xi Jinping of China, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. Several new initiatives included the first BRICS Digital Health Summit; the first BRICS Ministerial Joint Statement on multilateral reforms; a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan; an Agreement on cooperation in field of remote-sensing satellites; a virtual BRICS vaccine Research & Development Centre; and a BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism.
At the conclusion of the Summit, the leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration, which placed an emphasis on COVID-19, strengthening and reforming the multilateral system, and peace, security, and counterterrorism, as well as economic and financial cooperation for sustainable development. Elaborating on these themes, the declaration highlighted the leading role that BRICS countries can play in the post-COVID global recovery through enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination and diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond the developed world.
Meeting for the first time since the Taliban captured power, the BRICS leaders managed to cobble together some joint objectives on Afghanistan on paper even as their geopolitical divergences persist: “We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country…We underscore the priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organization.”
India passes the baton to China as the next Chair of BRICS 2022.
In this Policy Alert, we examine the rising powers’ level of convergence at the 13th BRICS Summit 2021.
Read the full commentary here.
