Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has described BRICS as a “statement” of the changing world order, which is no longer dominated by the developed countries of the Global North. Speaking at the outreach session of the BRICS Summit on Thursday, he emphasized the need to expand platforms that promote multipolarity in order to provide the nations of the Global South with more tools for development.   

“This economic, political and cultural rebalancing has now reached a point where we can contemplate real multi-polarity. The BRICS itself is a statement of how profoundly the old order is changing,” Jaishankar said.  

The minister, however, noted that “many inequities of the past also continue.”  He identified unequal access to developmental resources and modern technology and efficiencies, adding that the benefits of globalization have been “very uneven.” 

To change this, the minister suggested that platforms “of an independent nature” should be strengthened and expanded and global governance institutions and mechanisms should be reformed. “This is really where BRICS can make a difference for the Global South,” Jaishankar said. 

He also pointed out the need to democratize the global economy by “creating more production hubs.” “The Covid experience is a sharp reminder of the need for more resilient, redundant and shorter supply chains. For essential needs, every region legitimately aspires to create its own production capabilities,” he said in a veiled dig at China, whose status of global manufacturing giant New Delhi aims to challenge.  Jaishankar also noted the need to correct “distortions in global infrastructure that are a legacy from the colonial era,” asserting that the world needs more connectivity options for the common good.  

The foreign minister was speaking on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who left Kazan on Wednesday after concluding his two-day visit. Modi held bilateral meetings with the leaders of Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan, and the UAE, and also with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he engaged at the delegation level for the first time in five years amid a border dispute between the nations. 

The BRICS leaders on Wednesday approved a joint communique that addresses multiple global crises and challenges and calls for promoting a multipolar world order where all nations have an equal say in global affairs. This includes pushing for greater representation of emerging and developing countries in international institutions. The documents also condemned sanctions and unilateral coercive measures that “deliberately disrupt global supply and production chains and distort competition.”