By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor says BRICS bloc is an important global platform and urged member states to maintain momentum across all pillars of cooperation.
The BRICS bloc compromises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with five other new members joining; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
BRICS was originally established to highlight investment opportunities and evolved into a cohesive geopolitical bloc with their governments meeting annually at formal summits and coordinating multilateral policies since 2009.
The Foreign Ministers from the expanded BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of nations met for a two-day meeting focused on current international relations, global governance reform and conflict resolution.
The meeting, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is the first since the bloc expanded in 2023 to include Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia.
Pandor, speaking at day one of the standalone BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting, underlined the importance of this expansion.
“This meeting is historic because it marks the expansion of BRICS to include further members,” she stated. “And I believe as BRICS, we can be a force for good and progressive change.”
She believes that the expansion of BRICS is evidence of the bloc’s growing importance and the critical role of cooperation in collectively promoting the shared interests and values of emerging and developing countries.
“It also signals our hunger for a body in the globe that embraces progressive ideals and seeks to alter the current nature of international relations to a more inclusive, equitable and development-oriented world.”
She told her colleagues that the “current complex divided global environment” demands that BRICS continue to advocate for multilateralism to play a critical role in fostering stability and cooperation in times of significant geopolitical uncertainty.
“Therefore, for our collective, multilateralism remains the only solution to successfully address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, underdevelopment, climate change, migration, disease, human trafficking, terrorism, and hunger, and to ensure an environment of sustainable peace and continuous development.
“I am convinced that our mutually beneficial cooperation through BRICS uplifts communities instead of increasing their vulnerability,” she added.
The Minister said it is evident that the world is currently falling short of achieving the development goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.