EAM Jaishankar departed for South Africa on Wednesday to attend the BRICS FMs meet in Capetown from 1st June to 3rd June, followed by a visit to Namibia for three days. Dr. Jaishankar has an ambitious agenda for the FMs meet.
India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar departed for a week-long tour to Africa. He will first attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meet hosted by South Africa in Capetown. Dr. Jaishankar will then go on a bilateral visit to Namibia for three days. For this week-long tour, EAM Jaishankar has a hasty schedule and a packed agenda.
Setting the Agenda for BRICS summit in August
The official and primary agenda of the Foreign Ministers’ meeting is to set the agenda for the BRICS summit scheduled for August this year, where the Heads of States of all five member nations will convene on issues of multilateral and global importance. Two most important topics to be discussed are expansion of the alliance to include more members to BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), and to come up with a “BRICS currency” that will demonopolize the American dollar.
Bilateral Meetings and Diasporic Engagements
Dr. Jaishankar will attend a bilateral meeting with the South African Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor. As per a statement released by the External Affairs Ministry, he will meet with South Africa’s President and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other BRICS Foreign Ministers and ‘Friends of BRICS’ Foreign Ministers of other invited countries. Dr. Jaishankar will also have “interaction” with the Indian diaspora in Capetown, stated the statement. On Friday, 15 foreign ministers from Africa and the Global South will attend the “Friends of BRICS” or “BRICS Plus” summit.
This will be the first time that an Indian EAM will be visiting Namibia. During the visit, Dr. Jaishankar will meet with the country’s top leadership, the MEA stated. According to the statement, Jaishankar will also co-chair the opening session of the joint commission meeting with Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia. He will also interact with the Indian diaspora in Namibia.
Seeking Consensus for G20
Dr. Jaishankar will meet Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and Chinese FM Qin Gang at the BRICS meeting. He will attempt to convince the Russian and Chinese FMs to settle on a consensus statement for the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi in September this year. Attempts to reach a consensus with them had failed in both the Finance Ministers and the Foreign Ministers’ meetings in India earlier this year. Since India will host the SCO summit online, Dr. Jaishankar will try to bring his Russian and Chinese counterparts onboard at this BRICS meeting itself.
Expanding the BRICS Grouping
Iranian FM Amir Abdollahaian will also attend the BRICS FMs meeting as a special invitee. A total of 19 nations including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Indonesia have formally or informally wished to join the BRICS grouping. The BRICS group brings together five of the world’s largest developing countries, accounting for 41% of the global population, 24% of global GDP, and 16% of worldwide commerce, attracting more member-aspirants. This matter is also to be discussed at the FMs meeting.
BRICS Currency
Since BRICS is primarily an economic alliance, the Foreign Ministers will debate upon the plan for a BRICS Currency initiative. It will provide an alternative currency to the dollar based on gold, commodities, and critical minerals, that would end the hegemony of the dollar. India has been non-committal to the plan so far. With several geopolitical equations to be balanced, Dr. Jaishankar leaves with an agenda that is ambitious and visionary in nature.