Speaking about how the geopolitical landscape is changing and the emergence of BRICS and other middle powers, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar praised the international body on Saturday, noting that many nations are “willing to join” the platform.

“Like any product, you test at a market, we tested it (BRICS) last year in the market, asking how many of want to join BRICS, and we got almost 30 countries who were willing to join BRICS,” he stated. “Clearly, 30 countries saw value in it, there must be something good with that.”

Jaishankar made these comments in 2024 at the Munich Security Conference. He was sitting next to Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Roula Khalaf, the moderator, had questioned

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates make up the intergovernmental body known as BRICS.

Jaishankar emphasised the importance of differentiating between anti-Western and non-Western views. “I think, its important today to make a distinction, between being non-West and anti-West, I’d not only characterise India as a country, which is non-West but which has an extremely strong relation with the Western countries, getting better by the days,” the EAM added.

“Not everybody necessarily in that grouping might qualify for that description, but the contribution the BRICS has made, if one looks at G7 and how it evolved into the G20,” he stated.

Antony Blinken concurred with Jaishankar’s viewpoint and underlined the importance of adaptability in international relations.

“I’m

Jaishankar reiterated that India will continue to purchase Russian oil despite the sanctions imposed on Moscow as a result of the war confrontation with Ukraine, stating that others shouldn’t find it difficult.

The European Maritime Academy also paid a visit to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today, concurrently with the Munich Security Conference 2024.

On Friday, Jaishankar started his meetings with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron for MSC 2024.

Munich will host the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 from February 16–18. There is a rare chance to have high-level discussions on the most important security issues facing the globe at the MSC 2024.