IBSA Report on ‘Deepening Cooperation in IBSA’ Launched

The Secretary (Economic Relations) of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) , Rahul Chhabra , launched the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) report on ‘Deepening Cooperation in IBSA: Perspectives from Key Sectors’ on November 10, 2020.

Highlights

The report was prepared by the 2nd batch of Fellows under the IBSA Visiting Fellowship Program. These fellows did the research on cooperation at the UN, Intellectual Property Rights, Traditional Medicine, Financial Sector Cooperation and Trade in Banking Services & Energy.

What is IBSA?

IBSA stands for India, Brazil and South Africa.

IBSA Dialogue Forum

This dialogue forum is an international tripartite grouping that promote international cooperation among the IBSA countries. The forum represents three important poles for enhancing South-South cooperation and greater understanding between three important continents namely Africa, Asia and South America. It provides a platform for the three countries so as to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence.

Significance

The IBSA Dialogue Forum plays a significant role in the foreign policies of three countries namely India, Brazil and South Africa. It promotes close coordination on global issues between these three large, multicultural and multiracial countries.  It also contributes to enhance the trilateral India-Brazil-South Africa cooperation.

Background

The IBSA Dialogue Forum was formalised by adopting the Brasilia Declaration on June 6, 2003. On this date,  the Brasilia declaration was signed by the foreign ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa. The trio had agreed on the urgent need to bring reforms in the United Nations, especially its security Council. It also touched upon international terrorism, trans-national crime and illegal arms dealing.