13th BRICS Summit 2021

13^th BRICS Summit- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

13^th BRICS Summit- Context

• Recently, the 13th BRICS summit 2021 was held virtually under the chairmanship of India. Prime Minister of India chaired the 13th BRICS summit 2021 virtual meeting.
• The 13th BRICS summit 2021 was dominated by the developments in Afghanistan and adopted the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan.
• The ‘New Delhi Declaration, was adopted by the BRICS Leaders which is an outcome document of the 13^th BRICS summit.

BRICS- 13th BRICS Summit 2021

13^th BRICS Summit -Key Points

• It will be the third time that India will be hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016.
• The theme of the 13^th BRICS Summit: ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation, and consensus.’
• Chairmanship: India is chairing the 13^th BRICS Summit 2021, which also coincides with the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, as reflected in the theme for the Summit.
• Priority Areas highlighted by India: India had outlined four priority areas for its Chairmanship. These are Reform of the-

1. 1. Multilateral System.
   2. Counter-Terrorism.
   3. Using Digital and Technological Tools for achieving SDGs.
   4. Enhancing People to People exchanges.

Taliban Rule in Afghanistan and Its Implications for India

13^th BRICS Summit- Key Outcomes

• On Afghanistan Issue:
  • The BRICS leaders called for fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law, and order in the country.
  • Highlighted the priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organizations to use Afghan territory as a terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against other countries.
  • Called for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urged the need to uphold the rights of women, children, and minorities.
  • BRICS countries were divided on the issue of engagement with the Taliban with Russia and China adopting a proactive policy on the issue.
  • The summit emphasized the importance of the principle of “non-interference” in international affairs and said disputes and conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means.
• Adoption of BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan: New Delhi Declaration also adopted the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan during the summit.
• Key Objectives of BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan: To ensure cooperation between BRICS countries in areas such as-
  • Preventing and combating terrorism,
  • Radicalization,
  • Financing of terrorism,
  • Misuse of the internet by terrorists,
  • Curbing travel of terrorists, b
  • Border control,
  • Protection of soft targets,
  • Information sharing, capacity building,
  • International and regional cooperation.
• On Countering COVID-19: The 13^th BRICS Summit also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the strategy to strengthen counter-pandemic cooperation and multilateral reform.
  • The New Delhi Declaration called against playing politics with the pandemic and the COVID-19 virus and urged for a global effort to eradicate the virus.
• Cooperation in Space Sector: The summit resulted in an agreement on a Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation between the member country space agencies which will deepen the cooperation in the space sector.
• On conflicts in other countries: The BRICS leaders also took up the conflicts in Myanmar, Syria, the tension in the Korean peninsula, Israel-Palestine violence, and other territorial disputes.
• On Reforming United Nations: The summit called for reform of the UN Security Council and urged to “revitalize” the UN General Assembly.

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BRICS- 13th BRICS Summit 2021

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