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NEW DELHI. — The leaders of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) emphasised the importance of using science-based methods to figure out the origins of coronavirus, according to the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 13th BRICS summit yesterday.
“We note that the cooperation on the study of origins of the SARS-COV-2 is an important aspect of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We support science-based, inclusive of broad expertise, transparent, and timely processes, free from politicization or interference, to strengthen international capabilities to better understand the emergence of novel pathogens and to help prevent future pandemics,” the document reads.
“The leaders of BRICS countries also appreciate the cooperation between the five nations in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“We note with satisfaction intra-BRICS cooperation to strengthen preparedness and response to the pandemic, including in vaccine cooperation and welcome the progress towards the early launch of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Centre in a virtual format.
“We support the progress towards establishing a BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for preventing mass infectious diseases risks, in accordance with the International Health Regulations (2005) and the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, for identifying future pandemics and forecasting outbreaks through institutional collaboration,” the document reads.
For the second year running, the summit was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Addressing the summit via video link, President Xi said China will donate 100 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines to developing countries within this year on top of a donation of US$100 million.
China will strive to provide a total of 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world by the end of this year, said President Xi, noting that China, to date, has provided more than 1 billion doses of finished and bulk vaccines to over 100 countries and international organisations.
The summit was chaired by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro also attended, along with President Xi Jinping of China, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The attendance of President Xi was especially significant.
“China is sending a signal that it is still pursuing a multi-polar world,” said Ian Johnson, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations,
“It’s also part of China’s continuing foreign policy to water down US influence in the world by pursuing other groupings of countries, such as BRICS.”
The first BRIC summit was held in Russia in 2009. Born in the shadow of the global financial crisis, the gathering – which added South Africa a year later, along with an “S” in its acronym – aimed to pool the burgeoning power of the world’s leading emerging economies to the benefit of each member and to spur global financial reform. Today, the BRICS nations account for roughly a quarter of global gross domestic product (GDP).
Like their developed-economy counterparts, BRICS members are still grappling with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the recovery among them is far from equal, and all face headwinds from virus-related disruptions.
China – the world’s second-largest economy – has been bouncing back strongly from last year’s Covid-19 blow. The most recent bit of good news arrived on Tuesday when government data showed that exports grew at a faster-than-expected pace last month.
India, which suffered a devastating second wave of COVID-19 earlier this year, is on track to mount the world’s fastest growth by year’s end, while Russia’s economy has recovered to pre-pandemic strength.
Brazil and South Africa are the group’s laggards. Brazil’s economy shrank unexpectedly in the three months ending in June, and political unrest is further muddying the outlook. South Africa’s economy grew 1.2 percent in the second quarter, but a contraction is expected in the third quarter after deadly riots swept the nation.
“In some ways, the BRICS group has been receiving a declining amount of attention over time since its formation,” said Miles Kahler, a senior fellow for global governance at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Since well before the COVID pandemic, quite a number of economies have had serious problems.”
While there is much to be gained from mutual cooperation, the relationships between the five BRICS nations are marked by shifting alliances and diverging strategic interests – especially where Afghanistan is concerned. – TASS/Al Jazeera
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