15th BRICS Summit 2023 Agenda, Theme, Focus Area, Significance

South Africa was the host nation for the 15th BRICS Summit. Every year, the BRICS nations as Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa get together for a summit of their leaders. Discussions center on areas of political and socioeconomic coordination, where participating nations have discovered commercial potential, economic complementarities, and collaboration opportunities. Check the details on the 2023 BRICS Summit below here in the article.

BRICS Summit 2023

At the BRICS Summit 2023, the leaders of BRICS Countries announced the admission of six new countries from next year 2024, as the club of large and populous emerging economies seeks to reshape the global order. The six countries Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates full members of BRICS from 1st January 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi later congratulated the new member, saying, “India has always supported the expansion of BRICS.

15th BRICS Summit 2023

The global leaders in the 15th BRICS Summit 2023 will take part in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue events. The Summit will give the platform to discuss issues of concern for the Global South and other areas of development. It will be the first in-person summit of BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019.

Agreement for the expansion of BRICS – currently Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has allowed dozens of interested nations to seek admission as Beijing and Moscow push to forge it into a viable counterweight to the West.

BRICS Summit 2023 Theme

As the Chair of BRICS Summit 2023, South Africa is focusing on the theme as-

‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism’.

This theme informs South Africa’s five priorities for 2023: developing a partnership towards an equitable just transition, including managing the risks associated with climate change; transforming education and skills development for the future; unlocking opportunities through the African Continental Free Trade Area; strengthening post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery and the attainment of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development; and strengthening multilateralism, including reform of global governance institutions and strengthening the meaningful participation of women in peace processes.

BRICS Summit 2023 Agenda

The BRICS Summit 2023 Agenda have been discussed below:

Inclusive Multilateralism

The BRICS Summit 2023 expressed concern about the use of unilateral coercive measures and reiterated their commitment towards inclusive multilateralism and upholding international law, along with enhancing and improving global governance by the promotion of a more agile, effective, efficient, representative, democratic and accountable international and multilateral system.

The leaders also called for countries to cooperate in promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms under the principles of equality and mutual respect. They agreed to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interests within BRICS as well as multilateral forums like the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council.

The bloc also supported a comprehensive reform of the UN that includes the UN Security Council, towards making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries in the Council’s memberships to address global challenges.

Peace and Development

The BRICS leaders in the joint statement expressed concern about ongoing conflicts across the world and shared the commitment towards peaceful resolution of differences and disputes through dialogue and inclusive consultations. They also noted the importance of the growing participation of women in peace processes.

BRICS Summit 2023 calls on the international community to support countries in working together towards post-pandemic economic recovery. The 15th BRICS Summit also emphasise the importance of contributing to post-conflict countries’ reconstruction and development and calls upon the international community to assist countries in meeting their development goals.

Mutually Accelerated Growth

The leaders of BRICS Countries also encourage multilateral financial institutions and international organisations to play a constructive role in building global consensus on economic policies and acknowledge the weakening global growth momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BRICS Summit 2023 recognize the important role of BRICS countries working together to deal with risks and challenges to the world economy in achieving global recovery and sustainable development. It reaffirm our commitment to enhance macro-economic policy coordination, deepen economic cooperation, and work to realize strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive economic recovery. They also committed to promoting employment for sustainable development, including developing skills to ensure resilient recovery, gender-responsive employment and social protection policies including workers’ rights.

Sustainable Development

The heads of state of BRICS supported the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the economic, social and environmental dimensions. They called for implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an integrated and holistic manner in the areas of poverty eradication and combating climate change. They also emphasised collaboration on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use matters.

BRICS Summit 2023 stresses the need for support of developed countries to developing countries for access to existing and emerging low-emission technologies and solutions that avoid, abate and remove GHG emissions and enhance adaptation action to address climate change,” quoted the statement.

They also focused on strengthening BRICS cooperation on population matters and in disaster management and committed to strengthening skills exchanges and cooperation among BRICS countries. The statement comes as the leaders unanimously agreed for expansion and welcomed six countries – Argentina, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran

BRICS Summit 2023 UPSC

The 2023 BRICS Summit was the 15th BRICS Summit, an international relations conference attended by the heads of state or heads of government of the five member states Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also invited the leaders of 67 countries to the summit. At the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to join the bloc. Full membership will take effect on 1 January 2024. 

The BRICS leaders further expressed support for “continuity and collaboration” in the G20 presidencies of Brazil and South Africa in 2024 and 2025 respectively and affirmed their commitment to “amplify and further integrate the voice of the global South in the G20 agenda.”

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