13th BRICS Summit 2021

Table of Contents

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. 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.