India has discussed ways to increase cooperation among IBSA countries on key issues on the international agenda in various multilateral fora, including the UN, WTO and G20.

The IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) has become an important tripartite grouping promoting cooperation in a number of areas.

Secretary of State S. Jaishankar hosted the 10th meeting of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Trilateral Ministerial Commission on Wednesday, along with Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto Franco Frana and Dr. Joe Phaahla, Minister of Health of the Republic of South Africa.

“The ministers expressed satisfaction with the coordination and cooperation between IBSA countries in various multilateral fora, including the UN, WTO, WIPO and G20, on important issues on the international agenda. They reaffirmed their intention to further deepen IBSA’s cooperation on international issues with various international organizations and groupings,” read a joint statement issued after the 10th meeting of the trilateral IBSA Ministerial Commission.

“The ministers reaffirmed the centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive Multilateral Trading System (MTS) as embodied in the WTO and its role in promoting predictability, stability, legal certainty and a level playing field in international trade , while ensuring special and differential treatment for developing countries, including least developed countries,” it said.

“They also agreed to make every effort to reform and strengthen the multilateral trading system and to make the WTO more effective and responsive to the needs of its developing country members,” the statement said.

Members also underscored the need to continue making positive efforts to ensure that developing country members, including least developed countries, secure a share of world trade growth commensurate with their economic development needs, it said.

In the context of the G20, they reaffirmed the high-level grouping’s role as the premier forum for international economic cooperation and reaffirmed the need to implement the SDGs and further promote sustainable development, according to the joint statement.

Ministers pointed to the upcoming G20 presidencies of India and Brazil in 2023 and 2024 respectively as useful opportunities to work together and steer the G20 agenda and work with a development perspective. Ministers also agreed to coordinate on issues of common interest, including health, international trade and investment, environment and climate change, counter-terrorism, cross-border crime and development issues, the statement added.

IBSA exemplifies the spirit of South-South cooperation. The IBSA fund is a special feature of the IBSA cooperation. Since its inception, it has provided over US$44 million and supported 39 South-South cooperation development projects in 35 partner countries, most of which are least developed countries.

India is the current IBSA Chair and will host the 6th IBSA Summit on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in November 2022.

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