The 10th India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) Trilateral Ministerial Commission (ITMC) meeting took place on 21 September 2022 in New York. It was chaired by Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar. H.E. Amb. Carlos Alberto Franco França, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil and H.E. Dr. Joe Phaahla, Minister of Health of the Republic of South Africa led their respective delegations.
The Ministers reviewed the entire gamut of IBSA cooperation. They welcomed new initiatives within IBSA, such as the inaugural meeting of the IBSA National Security Advisors, the launch of cooperation amongst the Development Cooperation Agencies in the form of IBSA Working Group on International/Trilateral Development Partnerships and the inaugural IBSA Senior Officials Meeting on Traditional Medicines.
IBSA exemplifies the spirit of South-South cooperation. The IBSA Fund is a special feature of IBSA collaboration. It has since its inception, allocated over US $44 million, supporting 39 South-South cooperation development projects in 35 partner countries with the majority being Least Developed Countries.
The Ministers held discussions on global issues, including cooperation in multilateral organizations, South-South cooperation, UNSC Reform, 2030 Agenda & Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Change, countering terrorism, financing for development, WTO, G20, among others. They also held discussions on regional issues such as African Union, Middle East Peace Process, and Situation in Ukraine.
The Ministers supported the legitimate aspiration of African countries to have a permanent presence in the UNSC and supported Brazil’s and India’s endeavour to occupy permanent seats in the Security Council. The Ministers also noted the upcoming G20 Presidencies of India and Brazil in 2023 and 2024, respectively, as useful opportunities to cooperate and steer the G20 Agenda and work with a developmental perspective.
India is the incumbent IBSA Chair and will be hosting the 6th IBSA Summit on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in November 2022.
The Ministers adopted a Ministerial Communique at the end of the meeting.