Major takeaways from Goa BRICS Summit

By Niranjan Sahoo
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, October 20, 2016
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Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L), Brazilian President Michel Temer (1st R), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a group photo before an informal dinner of the eighth BRICS Summit in the western Indian state of Goa, Oct. 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)



With the curtain falling on the much awaited BRICS Summit, it is time to examine what new milestones this promising club of five emerging powers was able to produce in Goa.

The 8th Summit produced a series of fascinating conversations among 11 world leaders, including President Xi Jinping of China, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Michel Temer of Brazil and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, observed by more than 250 top dignitaries drawn from all corners of the globe.

Two-day hectic parley of five heads of government of China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa eventuated in a 109-point Goa Declaration. Putting an end to a lot of speculation and whisper campaigns about the futility of such meeting, primarily from Western media, BRICS members came up with an all-encompassing, reasoned and very balanced declaration on a wide range of issues involving themselves and the world at large.

This is best illustrated by the opening words of the declaration that stressed "the importance of further strengthening BRICS solidarity and cooperation based on our common interests and key priorities so as to further strengthen our strategic partnership in the spirit of openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation. We agree that emerging challenges to global peace and security and to sustainable development require further enhancement of our collective efforts."

The importance of the Goa Declaration lies in its unequivocal faith in the existing international order, coupled with a desire to make it more equitable and fairer. This is easily demonstrated in the group's reiteration of United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals signed on September 25, 2015 and the G20 Action Plan on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted during the G20 Hangzhou Summit.

Hopefully, this should put an end to the misleading message about BRICS "overturning the existing system of global governance."

Among other major achievement, the Goa Summit lays out an elaborate roadmap for new institutions capable of providing further depth to this grouping and its works.

To provide much needed strength to many initiatives and accelerate economic growth, the Goa Declaration outlined several new institutions such as BRICS Agriculture Research Platform, BRICS Railway Research Network, economic think tank, and various youth-centric forums.

It also agreed to speed up the establishment of a BRICS Rating Agency with the sole aim of bridging the gap in the global financial architecture. BRICS's quick response in setting up of the New Development Bank (NDB), a $100 billion lending arm, is another positive institutional development.

Another highpoint in Goa was the simultaneous hosting and cross conversation with the leaders of BIMSTEC or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

Both China and India share strong trade relations with these countries and the event provided space for further deepening the relationship.

Last but not the least, the Goa Summit paid considerable attention to terrorism and the evolving security situation in Syria and Afghanistan. Strongly condemning growing spectre of terrorism and endorsing multi-national efforts to arrest the spread of terror networks and calling upon global community to take resolute action against terrorist organizations designated by the United Nations Security Council, the BRICS Summit also proposed to establish a joint working group on counter-terrorism reflecting its increasing transnational nature.

In short, the BRICS is steadily demonstrating it is not a "gossiping club" but a positive force to ensure global governance becomes fairer and equitable for all.

Niranjan Sahoo is Senior Fellow with Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn

 

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