India participated in the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, which commenced on Monday in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. This marks the first foreign policy assignment for India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic third consecutive term. Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), led the Indian delegation at the meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opened the BRICS Ministerial with a minute of silence in memory of the deceased former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. He extended condolences to the people of Iran and the families of the victims.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor; Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira; UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi; and Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shokri, along with several other distinguished guests, participated in the meeting. Heads of delegations also posed for a family photo ahead of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
This is the first meeting of foreign ministers since the expansion of BRICS in 2023. The 10 full members of the association now include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with new members Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia joining the grouping in 2023. Russia assumed the chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024.
In his opening remarks at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Sergey Lavrov said, “We are glad to welcome you to one of the oldest cities in Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, whose history goes back more than 800 years,” according to a translation of the speech released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
He noted that the expansion of BRICS is a “clear confirmation of the process of formation of a multipolar world order.” He accused the US and its allies of attempting to maintain their elusive dominance and slow down the objective processes of the formation of multipolarity.
Lavrov stated that Russia advocates for a more equitable world order based on the sovereign equality of states and taking into account the balance of forces and interests. The Russian Foreign Minister highlighted that BRICS is one of the associations where the principles of equal cooperation are implemented in deeds. He expressed confidence that BRICS is propelled by the wind of change and that its role in solving global problems will only increase.
