Indian Parliament can be legitimately proud of hosting an eventful conclave of Parliamentarians of Global South, represented by the original five members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and later on South Africa (BRICS) with Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members and some ten countries co-opted as partner countries in recent years.
The assemblage of the representatives of the 21 countries representing the broad spectrum of the Global South on October 26-27 in the pristine Central Hall of Parliament that once heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s clarion call of India’s tryst with destiny soon after Independence in 1947 signified India’s global clout in a multipolar world.
Accounting for roughly 40% of global GDP at purchasing power parity against 28% for the G7 countries of the rich world with 49.5% of the world’s population (3.9 billion in BRICS) and 26% of global trade and half of world economic growth, the disparate countries in different ladder of development but united in a partnership for collective progress is designed to signal the safety in numbers in a dangerously risky world replete with uncertainties.
Earlier the global dialogue was between the developed North and the developing South with the binary losing the laser focus in the 1990s with the collapse of the USSR and the advent of the Washington Consensus for the predominant market forces in shaping economic growth across the globe in a one-size fits all paradigm.
Subsequent developments reflected in the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the dot com bubble at the millennial dawn and the global financial meltdown in 2007 and the Covid-19 pandemic saw the compact for cooperation fraying with the emerging and developing economies realising that they had to increasingly fend for themselves in a warped protectionist world that had turned inward to thwart development drive across the traditional divide! It was against this grim scenario of genuine cooperative spirit losing its gleam among countries keen on pushing themselves to a better world that BRICS was formed in 2011.
Since its inception, the BRICS agenda has expanded from its initial focus on economic issues of mutual concern and is structured around three core pillars: political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. Alongside BRICS Parliamentary Forum representing the Parliamentary dimensions of the BRICS process was established with the first BRICS Parliamentary Forum having been held in Moscow in 2015, setting in motion a dedicated platform for inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation. It is after a decade that the Parliament of India got the first chance to host the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, although India chaired BRICS meeting of leaders in 2012, 2016, 2012 and 2026.
In a loaded remark reflecting the listless youth of the country holding protests across the country, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who chaired the two-day sessions in his inaugural address alluded to the available avenues for them to make adequate use of access to quality education and technological knowledge, mixed with a keen yen to innovate, excel and contribute to society.
His pitch for empowering young people is not only investment in their future but also a commitment to the collective destiny of nations sounded specious for the ruling dispensation everywhere to take the cue with protests searing Europe in general and France in particular. The adoption of a Joint Declaration by the participating member countries’ Parliamentarians validated New Delhi’s steadfast stance on national security with no demur as the text deftly used uncompromised counter-terrorism language, building on NDD (New Delhi Declaration) Paragraph 40 condemning cross-border terrorism, terror financing and safe havens while seeking zero tolerance and an end to double standards!
The declaration also embodies India-led developmental and climate agenda, encapsulating the expansion of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) repositories, ethical governance in deploying AI (artificial intelligence), adherence to Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and unanimous support for India’s BRICS chairship.
Cryptically Om Birla, in his concluding remarks, told the delegates that “global peace truly means security, respect, justice and the assurance of a better future for everyone – especially the younger generation,” adding that coming generations would judge current leaders by the safety and prosperity of the world they leave behind! It is a potent pitch for seeking cooperation instead of competition and peace instead of conflict and war – a meaningful message from the land of the middle path that eschewed extremity in stance that in no way help harbour harmony for humanity.
A caveat is in order, as in the international conference of this genre the facilities for making other key legislators’ speeches available in English or what they stated during deliberations, including from the original five members, were not only available to the media, but even in the formal official press releases not a word was mentioned! Such a conclave gets meaningful only if all the delegates’ views get known, going forward.
(G Srinivasan is a senior economic journalist based in New Delhi.)
