External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday urged “full support” for multilateral reform from the BRICS grouping in an online meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the member countries. Addressing the meeting, which was convened by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Indian Minister said he exchanged views with other Foreign Ministers regarding international situation and “regional hotspots.”

“Urged full support of BRICS in reforming UN Security Council as an exercise in our collective faith in meaningful multilateralism,” said Mr. Jaishankar in social media messages after delivering his speech on Friday.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said Mr. Jaishankar promised that India would strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation in “political and security, economic and trade and people to people” levels when India becomes the Chair of the BRICS in 2021.

“The discussions centred around [an] overview of global situation — new threats and challenges, regional hotspots. The Ministers discussed possible BRICS cooperation on international fora including on key issues on the 75 UNGA agenda,” said the Ministry.

Special significance

The BRICS Foreign Ministers-level meeting acquired special significance as it included participation from both Mr. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the backdrop of the high-tension Ladakh stand-off between the two sides. The two Ministers are scheduled to interact in person during the September 10 Foreign Ministers-level meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow.

The External Affairs Minister’s visit to Moscow will closely follow the three-day visit by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh where he attended the Defence Ministers-level meeting of the SCO.

Friday’s virtual interaction of the BRICS Foreign Ministers witnessed participation by Mr. Jaishankar, Amb. Ernesto Araujo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil; Mr. Wang Yi; Grace Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa; and Mr. Sergey Lavrov.