Clearly, 30 countries saw value in it: Jaishankar commends BRICS

MUNICH: Addressing the rise of BRICS and other middle powers in the evolving geopolitical landscape, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday applauded the intergovernmental organisation, stating a large number of countries "willing to join" the platform.

"Like any product, you test at a market, we tested it (BRICS) last year in the market, asking how many of want to join BRICS, and we got almost 30 countries who were willing to join BRICS," he said, adding, "Clearly, 30 countries saw value in it, there must be something good with that."

Jaishankar's remarks came at the Munich Security Conference 2024. He was seated with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbock.

The moderator Roula Khalaf had questioned Jaishankar and Blinken if the development of BRICS, and other groups poses a challenge to the West or potentially serves as a bridge, particularly amid the ongoing competition between the US and China.

Jaishankar emphasized the historical context of BRICS, highlighting that it originated during an era of strong Western dominance when the G7 held a premier position.

"You had a number of significant powers in the world, who felt they were not a member of G7 but maybe they also brought value to the table by sitting and discussing with others. So, in a sense you had a collection of these countries which were originally four and South Africa joined later," he said. "It's a very interesting group because it is geographically disparate as it can be, yet it is bound by the fact that these discussions, we've had in a decade and a half have been very useful for all of us," he added.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Importantly, Jaishankar stressed the need to distinguish between being non-Western and anti-Western.

"I think it's important today to make a distinction, between being non-West and anti-West, I'd not only characterize India as a country, which is non-West but which has an extremely strong relation with the Western countries, getting better by the days," the EAM also said. "Not everybody necessarily in that grouping might qualify for that description, but the contribution the BRICS has made, if one looks at G7 and how it evolved into the G20," he added.

Agreeing with Jaishankar's perspective, Antony Blinken emphasized the flexibility needed in global relations.

"I'm tempted to say what my friend said. What we don't need to do and what we are not doing, is trying to design the world into rigid blocks. Each issue we have to deal with in the interest of the American people may have different collections and coalitions of countries that bring certain experiences and capacities. I think to call that as variable geometry," the US Secretary said.

Acknowledging the strength of the India-US relationship, Blinken emphasized that regardless of India's role as a leading member of BRICS and the US as a leading member of G7, the two countries collaborate in various forums such as the G20, AUCUS, and the Quad.

"As Jai (EAM Jaishankar) said, the relationship between our countries is the strongest it's ever been, makes no difference that India happens to be the leading member of BRICS, and we (the US) are the leading member of G7. We have the G20 and we have multiple things that we are doing together in different ways," he added. "India and US working together in AUCUS, working together in Quad, and a variety of other fora. All of this goes to the point that complexity, demands we find different ways to work together and it shouldn't be done on an exclusive basis. Our default of course is to work...with fellow democracies," Blinken also said.

Meanwhile, on India's stand and commitment to buy Russian oil despite respective sanctions on Moscow amid the military conflict with Ukraine, Jaishankar reaffirmed, saying, it should not be a problem for others.

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference 2024, the EAM also called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh today.

Jaishankar began his engagements of MSC 2024 on Friday with United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 is taking place from February 16 to 18, in Munich. The MSC 2024 offers a unique opportunity for high-level debates on the world's most pressing security challenges.