Chethana Janith, Jadetimes Staff
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.
Vladimir Putin met with BRICS high-ranking officials responsible for security matters at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg. This is the 14th such forum held within the framework of BRICS.
The meeting in St Petersburg and the growing role of BRICS in international affairs.
The latest meeting of representatives of the BRICS and BRICS+ countries on security matters was held in St Petersburg on September 10-12 this year. The first part of the meeting was attended by representatives of China, India, Brazil, Iran, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia and South Africa. The second part was held in an expanded format, which was attended by Serbia, Belarus, Turkey, Iran, Mauritania, Laos, Vietnam, Venezuela, Bahrain, South Africa, Brazil, Nicaragua, UAE, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Egypt and India. In total, representatives of 21 countries were present in the plenary hall.
The BRICS interstate association, which was launched in 2006 at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on the initiative of the leaders of Russia, India and China, is increasing its authority from year to year and is gaining global importance today. BRICS is a qualitatively new organisation that acts as a flagship for the formation of a multipolar world where relations are based on the principles of non-interference, equality and mutual benefit.
Today, BRICS accounts for 26.7% of the world’s land surface (43,556,873km2) and 43.5% of the world’s population (3.53 billion people); 43% of world oil production; 85% of world reserves of rare earth minerals; 28.1% of world GDP. The BRICS countries are characterised by rapidly developing economies. At the same time, they include three large (Russia, China, India) world nuclear powers. Accordingly, the geography and potential of BRICS countries indicate their key participation in the formation of regional and global security architectures.
What is remarkable about the St Petersburg meeting of BRICS countries on security matters is that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the forum participants at the Konstantinovsky Palace and held separate talks with representatives of China, India and Iran.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in his address to forum participants, more than 30 (or rather 34, to be precise) states have already expressed their desire to join the work of BRICS and develop cooperation in various formats. This trend, of course, confirms the indisputable fact of the viability of BRICS as a new type of international organisation, testifies to the growing interest in it and requires improving the quality of its activities.
Agenda and initiatives of the St Petersburg forum
Security issues remain key in the global system and in the context of acute military and political crises in Europe and the Middle East at the present stage, as well as smouldering hotbeds of conflict in the heart of Asia and other parts of the world. A systematic approach to ensuring security and peace at the national, regional and global levels is gaining priority.
The issues of combating terrorism, separatism, drug trafficking, corruption, cybercrime and other threats, as well as the formation of a sustainable concept of mutually beneficial cooperation between BRICS countries of common interest, became the subject of discussion in this sphere.
At a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, President Vladimir Putin stressed that Moscow and Beijing are defending the principles of a just world, and on the path to achieve this justice, the world community must defend the strengthening, first of all, of security.
The Russian leader drew the attention of the high representatives on security issues of the BRICS countries to the collective results of joint work (including the creation of a special electronic register for the exchange of information on computer attacks and incidents), the expediency of forming a council to combat the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
The forum participants came up with a number of important new initiatives of organisational and substantive natures, designed to enhance the mutually beneficial partnership of BRICS countries in the field of strengthening security and respect for mutual interests. Thus, as part of the anti-corruption effort, the Russian side proposed common approaches of BRICS countries to combating bribery and recovering assets and income derived from illegal criminal activities, which was approved by partners.
Among the noteworthy initiatives of the forum participants is the proposal of Iran (representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Akbar Ahmadian) on the expediency of creating a special collective institute on security issues within the framework of BRICS, particularly the BRICS Security Commission.
Such a structure is obviously needed by such a serious organisation in order to develop common principles and concepts of cooperation in the field of global and regional security at the external level, as well as in the context of an internal mechanism to eliminate tensions between BRICS member states (for example, in relations between China and India, Iran and Saudi Arabia, etc.).
At the meeting in St Petersburg, BRICS countries discussed forms of interaction in the face of geopolitical challenges that could escalate into armed conflicts. The representative of India, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India Ajit Doval, in his speech cited the example of the popular expression in his country, ‘the whole world is one big family’, which for BRICS countries means not idealising the situation, but striving to move in the paradigm of common efforts in the field of security and overcoming modern challenges in a timely manner.
In this context, Serbia’s interest in BRICS is indicative. Thus, the representative of Belgrade, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, at the meeting in St Petersburg, stated that EU pressure on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija could force Serbia to join BRICS. “For Serbia, BRICS is a chance and a real alternative to the EU, which does not require anything in return, but can offer more”, A. Vulin stressed.
In addressing pressing issues, the high representatives of the St Petersburg meeting of BRICS countries also discussed the peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. Indian Representative A. Doval, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported on the details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky.
During meetings with high representatives of BRICS countries on security issues, Vladimir Putin thanked all colleagues for their fruitful joint work and asked them to convey good wishes and an invitation to the leaders of their countries to the organisation’s high summit in Kazan on October 22-24.
During the meetings with representatives of China, India and Iran, the parties confirmed the high level of relations between our countries, discussed topical issues of cooperation and prospects for their growth. Naturally, a considerable part of the issues (especially in the field of security) remained behind ‘closed doors’ for objective reasons. However, the fact remains that the West will no longer be able to impose its dictate on the rest of the world because the agenda of active and equal cooperation between the countries of the Global South and the East is expanding.
BRICS security meeting develops the tradition of cooperation between the Global South and the East
The forum in St Petersburg has become the latest development in the tradition of BRICS summits to discuss issues of ensuring national, regional and international security, as well as areas of interaction between the participating countries of this organisation. Most of the meeting was held behind closed doors. The official materials note that the following issues were discussed: the parameters of the future world order; overcoming the order imposed by the West based on the rules of dictate; the development of multipolarity; coordination of actions in the conditions of confrontation and unpredictability in world affairs.
As the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, noted, such meetings in an expanded format are becoming a good tradition for interaction between the Global South and the East.
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