Joint Communiqué of the 10th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting

 

1. The Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, HE Dr S. Jaishankar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil, HE Amb. Carlos Alberto Franco França, and the Minister of Health of the Republic of South Africa HE Dr Joe Phaahla (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministers”) met for the 10th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission on 21 September 2022.

 

2. The Ministers underscored the importance of the principles, norms and values underpinning the IBSA Dialogue Forum, including participatory democracy, respect for human rights, respect for sovereign equality, territorial integrity, peace, mutual respect, freedom and the Rule of Law. The Ministers reiterated the need for IBSA to leverage its strengths and unique identity as a grouping of the Global South, bringing together three large pluralistic, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies from three continents.

 

3. The Ministers affirmed the strategic significance of IBSA in safeguarding and advancing the interests of the Global South on the global stage, including at the multilateral and plurilateral bodies. They stressed the importance of multilateralism and the need to reform global governance structures in order to make them more inclusive, democratic, representative, transparent, effective, objective and credible and responsive to contemporary realities, especially the needs of the Global South.

 

4. The Ministers expressed their grave concern over the continuing public health, social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic globally and especially in the countries of the Global South. The Ministers conveyed their condolences for the lives lost and expressed their solidarity with the affected families. The Ministers emphasised the value of bilateral and multilateral cooperation among States to effectively combat the pandemic and its impacts and to foster a rapid, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient recovery. They called for better international preparedness to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and other current and future health challenges, including through mobilisation of political and popular support, as well as necessary financial and technological resources.

 

5. The Ministers stressed upon the need to achieve Universal Health Coverage and promote initiatives aimed at ensuring timely, affordable, and equitable access to safe, effective and quality diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines, and essential health technologies, and their components, as well as equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministers acknowledged the decision taken in the WTO Ministerial Conference 12 in this regard. The TRIPS waiver agreed upon should be supported by a conducive environment for the transfer acquisition of technology to scale up the production and distribution of vaccines and pharmaceutical products. Further, our collective effort should ensure fruitful consultation through the TRIPS Council on the extension of the TRIPS patent waiver to therapeutics and diagnostics. Also, considering the complex nature of production and limited shelf-life of VTDs, the focus should be on the collaborative models of Research & Development and manufacturing to enable quick access to these products. A positive course of action, therefore, would be to build stronger and sustainable partnerships among countries to make the fruits of research and innovation accessible to the wider global population.

 

6. Recognising the role of extensive immunisation against COVID-19 as a global public good for health in preventing, containing, and stopping transmission to bring the pandemic to an end, the Ministers appreciated the significant progress achieved in the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and called for further cooperation among the various stakeholders to ensure the timely availability of a diversified portfolio of vaccines to all those who need it, at affordable prices.

 

7. The Ministers called on all countries, international agencies, and philanthropic organisations to procure vaccines and boosters from manufacturers in developing countries, including in Africa and amongst the BRICS countries, to ensure that the manufacturing capabilities being developed are sustained. This is critical to build health system resilience and preparedness for emerging variants and any future health emergencies, including epidemics related to tropical diseases caused by pathogens of epidemic potential. In this context, access to diagnostics and therapeutics is essential to adopt quality and affordable medical countermeasures and develop overall surveillance capabilities, including for human and animal health.

 

Global Issues

 

Cooperation in Multilateral Organisations

8. The Ministers expressed satisfaction on the coordination and cooperation among IBSA countries in various multilateral fora, including the UN, WTO, WIPO and G20, on major issues of international agenda. They reiterated their intention to further deepen IBSA cooperation on international issues at various International Organisations and groupings.

 

South-South Cooperation

9. Recalling the IBSA Declaration on South-South Cooperation made in Pretoria, South Africa, on 4 June 2018, the Ministers underscored South-South Cooperation as a common endeavour of peoples and countries of the Global South, guided by principles of respect for national sovereignty; national ownership and independence; equality; non-conditionality; non-interference in domestic affairs; and mutual benefit through capacity building and technology transfer in the spirit of solidarity and partnership. Those same principles are a path to contribute to and learn from other experiences in the Global South in the pursuit of development.

 

10. Recalling the 2011 Tshwane Declaration that brought people to the centre of the discourse on global governance and considered social policies for the welfare of the people as the driving mechanism for restructuring the international financial architecture and reforming international organisations, thereby strengthening South-South Cooperation, the Ministers agreed to step up IBSA advocacy for reforms of global governance institutions in multilateral fora.

 

11. The Ministers took positive note of the widely recognised success of the IBSA Trust Fund that has, since its inception, allocated over US $44 million, supporting 39 South-South cooperation development projects in 34 partner countries, with the majority of them being Least Developed Countries (LDCs). As the world continued to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating socio-economic impact, the projects supported through the IBSA Fund have been instrumental in helping the partner countries in response to and recovery. As climate change continues to accelerate, putting us further behind in the fight against poverty and vulnerability, and as livelihoods across the Global South have experienced sharp regresses, we will continue to identify replicable and scalable projects that can be disseminated to interested developing countries as examples of best practices in the fight against poverty and hunger.

 

12. The Ministers recognised the positive role being played by the respective development agencies of IBSA countries in promoting South-South Cooperation, and in this regard, welcomed the consensus reached for such cooperation at the IBSA Sherpas’ meeting held on 16 April 2021and appreciated the organisation on 29 September 2021 of the Inaugural Meeting of the Development Cooperation Agencies of the IBSA member countries on International/ Trilateral Development Partnerships.

 

United Nations and Security Council Reform

13. Recalling the IBSA Joint Statement on the Reform of the Multilateral System made in New York on 26 September 2019 and the IBSA Joint Ministerial Statement on Reform of the UN Security Council of 16 September 2020, the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as a rule-based international order, upholding the basic principles of international law such as equal sovereignty and non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, promoting greater democracy and the rule of law in international relations, building an inclusive, responsive and participatory international governance architecture through mutually beneficial cooperation and human-centric globalisation.

 

14. The Ministers emphasised that while a comprehensive reform of the United Nations system remains a crucial international undertaking, the advancing of the reform of the Security Council, the principal organ mandated with the maintenance of international peace and security, should remain an urgent and top priority, especially as reform of this organ has remained elusive. The Ministers renewed their commitment to work for the expansion of Security Council membership to include representation from emerging and developing economies of Asia, Latin America, and Africa in both the permanent and non-permanent categories for achieving a representative, inclusive, equitable, responsive and effective UN Security Council which is reflective of the contemporary global realities.

 

15. The Ministers appreciated the role of India and Brazil as members of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022 and 2022-23, respectively. Expressing frustration with the slow pace of progress on Security Council reforms in the inter-governmental negotiations process, which lacks transparency in its working method, they insisted that the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process, with provision for substantive negotiations based on a single comprehensive text, in a formal setting. They agreed that the current composition of the UN Security Council no longer reflects the realities of the contemporary world and that reforming the UNSC is critical. They reaffirmed UNGA Resolution 75/1 and committed to take concrete steps to instil new life in the discussions on the reform of the UNSC. They shared the view that, in order to make it more representative, effective and efficient, there is an urgent need to increase the representation of developing countries in both categories of membership. They 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.

 

16. The Ministers expressed concern at the slow pace of Inter-Governmental Negotiations on UN Security Council reform, which have not produced tangible progress in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). They urged the redoubling of efforts to achieve concrete outcomes within a fixed time frame on this issue through the commencement of text-based negotiations during the 77th UNGA, with a view to an early comprehensive reform of the Security Council.

 

2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

17. The Ministers underscored the importance of the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They highlighted the need to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. They urged the developed countries to fully honour their Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments and for providing new and additional financing and the means of implementation of the SDGs. The Ministers stressed that sustained, predictable and enhanced financing is essential, especially in this Decade of Action. The Ministers also stressed the need for making available technological solutions, including digital solutions, for developing countries to achieve the SDGs. The Ministers reiterated their support for a more balanced and inclusive economic globalisation, reject protectionism, and renewed their commitment to the promotion of global trade, investment and productivity, which is conducive to an equitable, inclusive, innovative, invigorated and interconnected world economy.

 

18. The Ministers also emphasised that it remains imperative to overcome extreme poverty, to reduce inequalities, and to promote sustainable development for all, including through international and South-South cooperation aimed at sharing best practices in providing the necessary means of implementation, such as finance, technology transfer and capacity building to support national efforts to that effect. The Ministers further expressed their commitment to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. They also acknowledged that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, must be aligned with national efforts and international cooperation as it represents the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.

 

Climate Change

19. The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. They urged all countries to work together for the implementation of the Paris Agreement based on the principles of the UNFCCC, including the principles of “equity” and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.

 

20. The Ministers urged developed countries to provide sustained, predictable and adequate financing, technology transfer and capacity-building support to developing countries to cope with climate change, in line with their obligations under the UNFCCC, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The Ministers emphasised that effective implementation of developed countries’ obligations under the UNFCCC, its Kyoto Protocol and its Paris Agreement will be essential for building trust among Parties and to create conditions for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.

 

21. The Ministers also emphasised the importance of adopting an ambitious, balanced and realistic Global Biodiversity Framework that promotes the three objectives of the Convention on Biodiversity in an integrated manner and provides predictable and appropriate means of implementation to support the developing countries by exploring the establishment of a Global Biodiversity Fund to leverage new and additional resources for biodiversity.

 

22. The Ministers recognised that peaking of Greenhouse Gas Emissions will take longer for developing countries; the need to achieve rapid reductions in emissions thereafter on the basis of equity and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. The Ministers recognised that while the historical polluters need to do more in reducing their emissions, it is also essential that technological and financial resources be made available to developing countries in a timely manner to tackle climate change. The Ministers regretted that the goal of USD 100 billion per year promised by the developed countries by 2020 has not been met and called for its fulfilment by COP27. The Ministers agreed to cooperate closely in the run-up to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 and Biodiversity Conference COP15 scheduled from 5 to 17 December 2022 in Egypt.

 

International Terrorism

23, The Ministers deplored the continued terrorist attacks across the world. They condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. They concurred that terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated in every part of the world. They reaffirmed their solidarity and resolved in the fight against terrorism. They called upon the international community to establish a genuinely broad international counter-terrorism framework in accordance with the principles of international law and support the United Nations’ central coordinating role in international counter-terrorism cooperation. They recalled the responsibility of all States to prevent and counter-terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, the financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories. The Ministers reiterated their resolve to step up joint efforts for the expeditious adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UNGA.

 

24. The Ministers looked forward to further deepening counter-terrorism cooperation and reaffirmed the sole authority of the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions and called for urgent reform of the working methods of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees to ensure their effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency while avoiding politicisation and double standards of any of their proceedings including listing proposals objectively on evidence-based criteria.

 

25. The Ministers welcomed the establishment of the IBSA National Security Advisors Meetings to deepen trilateral cooperation on international security-related issues; its inaugural meeting took place in August 2021. In this regard, they agreed to enhance IBSA cooperation on security issues, including counter-terrorism and transnational crime.

 

Financing for Development

26, The Ministers acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed millions of people across developing countries to extreme poverty and has hampered the progress towards the achievement of SDGs. The Ministers, in this regard, stressed on the need to focus on early economic recovery without any conditionalities attached. In the context of fiscal constraints, the Ministers acknowledged the pivotal role of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) not only in providing finance and guarantees but also in facilitating the mobilisation of private sector resources for projects in emerging economies and developing countries. The Ministers called upon all members of the global community to intensify efforts for the achievement of SDGs. The Ministers underlined the importance of continuing to work together to ensure the speedy implementation of all seven action areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda as well as the outcomes of the Monterrey and Doha International Conferences on Financing for Development Follow-up (FfD).

 

WTO

27. 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 for international trade while ensuring special and differential treatment for developing countries including LDCs. The Ministers agreed to make all efforts to reform and strengthen the multilateral trading system and make the WTO more effective and responsive to the needs of its developing country members. They also emphasised that global trade rules should facilitate the effective participation of all countries in the MTS and that development must remain central in the WTO’s work. They underscored the need to continue to make positive efforts to ensure that developing country members, including the least-developed country members, secure a share in the growth of world trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development. The Ministers also emphasised the need to restore a fully and well-functioning two-tiered dispute settlement body by 2024 as mandated in the MC12 outcome document. The Ministers commended the successful conclusion of MC12 that underscores the value of multilateralism. They encouraged WTO members to sustain momentum and achieve further meaningful outcomes by MC13.

 

G20

28. The Ministers reaffirmed G20’s role as the premier forum for international economic cooperation and reiterated the need for implementing SDGs and continuing to promote sustainable development. The members expressed their full support to the Indonesian G20 presidency and its efforts to achieve a successful Bali Summit and a strong and clear leaders’ declaration addressing global challenges to economic and development issues. They also reiterated the need for macroeconomic policy coordination, with the aim to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth and minimise negative spill-overs and external shocks. The Ministers 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. The Ministers also agreed to coordinate on issues of common interest, including health, international trade and investments, environment and climate change, counter-terrorism, transnational crime and development issues.

 

IBSA Sectoral Cooperation

29. The Ministers appreciated the successful holding of the 6th IBSA Women’s Forum and its outcome and reaffirmed their commitment for achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls through mutual cooperation.

 

30. The Ministers welcomed the organisation of 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.

 

31. The Ministers also welcomed the revitalisation of various IBSA dialogue mechanisms with the organisation of the IBSA Tourism Ministers’ Meeting, IBSA Senior Officials Meeting on Tourism, 5th Tripartite Meeting of IBSA National Standards, Conformity Assessment, Accreditation and Meteorology Bodies, 12th  IBSA Joint Working Group on Energy, 7th meeting of IBSA Joint Working Group on Agriculture,  6th  IBSA Tri-Nations Conference on Small & Medium Enterprises and the ongoing 3rd round of IBSA Fellowship.

 

32. The Ministers agreed on the convening of Working Groups and expert-level meetings in other priority sectors such as Blue Economy, Cyber security, Defence, and Human settlements.

 

33. The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful cyberspace. The Ministers recognised that COVID-19 has demonstrated the growing dependence on ICT products and systems by States and underlined the importance of ensuring the safety and security of ICT infrastructure. The Ministers emphasised that international cooperation would help in building a common understanding of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace and benefit States in promoting economic growth and innovation and welcomed the establishment of IBSA cooperation in this area.

 

34. The Ministers noted that all the IBSA countries have systems of traditional medicine and that traditional medicine has a larger role to play in the prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases, nutritional deficiencies, infectious diseases and many other conditions. The Ministers welcomed the proposal for academia in IBSA countries to join hands to develop scientific evidence of the utility and effectiveness of traditional medicine. Further, recalling the ‘IBSA MoU on cooperation in the field of health and medicine signed in Pretoria, South Africa, on 17 October 2007, which called for promoting and developing cooperation in the area of traditional medicine, the Ministers agreed to consider exploring a separate IBSA MoU for cooperation on Traditional Medicine and to develop and implement a road map for cooperation to improve the health of their people and facilitate trade in the area of traditional medicine inter alia. They also welcomed the establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. They expressed hope that this Centre will lead to the further enhancement of the contribution of traditional medicine to global health and sustainable development.

 

People to People exchanges

35. The Ministers appreciated the various people-to-people meetings organised recently, most notably, the 1st IBSA Youth Summit, the 7th edition of the IBSA Academic Forum, and the IBSA Coffee Festival. They also appreciated upcoming people-to-people activities, including a B2B meeting on MSMEs and Start-ups, a B2B meeting between small and medium-sized Coffee growers, and the ongoing 3rd phase of the IBSA Fellowship programme.

 

Regional Issues

 

African Union

36. The Ministers commended the efforts of the African Union and sub-regional organisations in fostering inclusive growth and sustainable development and maintaining regional peace and security. They underlined that security and development are closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing and key to attaining sustainable peace. They reiterated their support to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 as the appropriate framework to attain the aspiration of a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and secure Africa and emphasised the importance of strengthened collaboration between the United Nations and the African Union in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. The Ministers expressed concern over the armed conflicts in parts of Africa and called for their expeditious resolution through regional and subregional initiatives guided by the principle of “African solutions to African problems” as articulated by Africans themselves aimed at achieving peace and improving the security situation in Africa.

 

Middle East Peace Process

37. The Ministers expressed deep concern over the situation in the Middle East and North Africa and emphasised that conflicts and crises in the region should be resolved by political and diplomatic means via inclusive dialogue.

 

38. The Ministers expressed their deep concern with the recent surge of tensions between Israel and Palestine and called on the relative parties to exercise restraint to avoid escalation. They stressed that the question of Palestine demands special attention and that the two-state solution achieved through direct negotiations without preconditions remains the internationally recognised basis for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. They reiterated their support for the just cause of Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights and for the greater solidarity among all parties of Palestine so as to achieve internal reconciliation. They encouraged Palestine and Israel to resume peace talks based on a negotiated two-state solution and called on the international community to intensify its efforts in support of an UN-led international peace Conference, with a view to achieving a comprehensive, lasting and just settlement that allows Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security.

 

39. The Ministers stressed that efforts should be made to leverage respective strengths, actively promote peace talks, and to help Palestine contain the COVID pandemic, develop its economy, ease its humanitarian situation and improve its people’s welfare. They commended the extensive work carried out by UNRWA to alleviate the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people and called on the international community to provide developmental assistance to support UNRWA activities in order to enable it to increase its reach amongst the Palestinian community.

 

Situation in Ukraine

40. The Ministers expressed serious concern at the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. They reiterated their call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the need to pursue the path of diplomacy and dialogue. They emphasised that the current global order is anchored on international law, the UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

 

41. The Ministers also discussed the regional and global implications of the conflict, including on food and energy security and disruptions of global supply chains.

 

Conclusion

42, The Ministers of South Africa and Brazil thanked the Minister of External Affairs of India for hosting the 10th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting.

 

43. The Ministers expressed their full support to India with its preparations to host the 6th IBSA Summit on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in November 2022.

 

44. The Ministers of India and South Africa accepted with appreciation and gratitude the Brazilian proposal to host the next meeting of the IBSA Foreign Ministers.

 

New York
September 21, 2022