Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, friends. I welcome you to this Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary, Shri Vikram Misri on the upcoming visit of Prime Minister to Kazan for the 16th BRICS Summit. We are also joined by Additional Secretary in the ERS Division, Shri Charanjeet Singh. With that, I invite Foreign Secretary Sir to make his remarks. Sir, over to you.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Thank you, Randhir. Namaskar. Good afternoon to all of you. As Randhir has mentioned, and as you would have seen from last week's Press Release by the Ministry, the Prime Minister will be departing for Kazan tomorrow to attend the 16th BRICS Summit at the invitation of President, Vladimir Putin.
The theme of this edition of the Summit is ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’. As you know, India is a founding member of BRICS and has participated in all of its activities, initiatives and engagements since its inception. India brings great value to BRICS and its contributions have played a vital role in shaping BRICS efforts in areas such as economic growth, sustainable development and global governance reform. We place a great deal of importance on our involvement and our activities within the BRICS Forum as we view it as a key expression of global multipolarity.
BRICS also serves for us as a vital platform to tackle a range of global challenges while also contributing to the shaping of a fairer, more exclusive and open international order. This year's Summit, the 16th edition in Kazan has as its focus the integration of new BRICS members into BRICS cooperation mechanisms, also strengthening economic cooperation, promoting cooperation for energy and food security, promoting cooperation in a host of areas related to science, healthcare, environmental protection, culture, sports, youth exchanges and civil society. As you would be aware, this is the first Summit that will be taking place after the first ever expansion of BRICS last year at the Johannesburg Summit. So this Summit will be attended by the founding members as well as the new members.
Just to give you an idea very briefly of the program of the Summit, the Summit begins on October 22. This is the day of welcome and there is a Leaders’ only dinner on the evening of the first day. The main day of the Summit is on the 23rd of October and there are two main Sessions, a closed plenary in the morning, followed by an open plenary in the afternoon, devoted to the main theme of the Summit. The leaders are also expected to adopt the Kazan Declaration which will lay the path forward for BRICS. This document is presently being negotiated in Kazan.
The BRICS Summit ends on the 24th of October. However, the Prime Minister, on account of pressing commitments back home, will return to New Delhi on the 23rd of October itself. But on the 24th, the Summit will conclude with the BRICS Plus or the Outreach Session where a number of countries have been invited by the Chair. This Session is focused on BRICS and the Global South building a better world together and it will have participation by the BRICS leaders who are there and these invited countries. I believe that about 28 Heads of State & Government and Five International Organizations will be participating in the Outreach Summit. The Indian delegation for the Outreach Summit will be led by Dr. S. Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister.
On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to have a few bilateral meetings. These are presently being worked out and we will keep you updated on these meetings as they evolve. Just a special word about the city where the summit is being held, Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. It is the fifth largest city in Russia and a major cultural and educational center. We have around 1000 Indian students in Kazan and some of you may recall that during the visit of the Prime Minister to Russia in July, we had indicated our intention to open an Indian Consulate in Kazan.
Let me stop there and I will take any question that you might have.
Yeshi: Good Afternoon. This is Yeshi Seli from The New Indian Express. Sir, we've already read that there's going to be a bilateral between PM Modi and President Putin. Is there any bilateral expected with the Chinese President? And secondly, how many countries have approached India for considering to become BRICS members?
Manash: Sir, this is Manash from PTI. So there is expectation that, Yeshi also asked the same question, there is expectation that PM Modi may meet Chinese President XI Jinping. And we already have two rounds of WMCC talks in the last two months. And then the statements that were put out after the WMCC were seen as positive forward movement by both sides to resolve the long-pending issue. So can we expect anything on that?
Niraj: Sir Niraj hoon News 18 India se. Iran ke Rashtrapati ke sath kya bilateral hogi wahan? Is tarah ka koi prastav hain Iran ki tarah se ya Bharat ki taraf se?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, I am Niraj from News 18 India. Will there be any bilateral talks with the President of Iran? Is there any such proposal from Iran or from India's side?
Smita: Hi, Smita Sharma here. During the last visit of the Prime Minister in his bilateral with President Putin, the issue of Indians fighting in Russia was raised. Since then, if you could give us an update on how many Indians have actually returned? And a specific request, because there are people from Azamgarh in a village called Chandrapar where at least two people, two men have died, whose dead bodies have come back. Two men have returned. But around 10 people are still there in Russia. And the villagers are asking MEA and the government to help them out and raise this issue during the bilateral. So if you could please comment on this in both English and Hindi.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Thank you. Well, I think many of you have questions about bilateral meetings on the sidelines and, in particular, a possible bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and the President of China. Some of these questions are particularly timely and, in a sense, also appropriate that I have the opportunity now to share with you. I can share with you that over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums. And as a result of these discussions, agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020. And we will be taking the next steps on this.
As far as the questions on a bilateral meeting are concerned, as you know and as I said earlier as well, this is a multilateral event, though of course, there is always a provision for bilateral meetings on the sidelines. We are currently looking into the overall program of the Prime Minister. There are a number of requests for bilateral meetings and we will update you on the bilaterals as they evolve as soon as feasible.
The same goes for all the other questions that have been posed with regard to the bilaterals with different countries.
Manash: [Inaudible].
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: We have reached an agreement on the issues that were being discussed.
I think Yeshi had a question on the countries that have approached India for membership. There are several countries, but as you know, the issue of countries that will acquire partner status possibly as a result of discussions at BRICS, these discussions are still going on and they have not yet been finalized. So it would not be appropriate for me to discuss publicly as to which are the countries and which may be the candidates and which member state might have nominated which other country. I think there is just a little bit more time to go. So you will know all very soon.
Smita, aapka jo prashna hain Bhartiya nagrik jinka Russian army mei jinki bharti ki gayi, vaidh ya avaidh tarikon se. Hamari jo abhi tak ki suchna hain uske anusar kareeb 85 Bhartiya nagrik Bharat laut aaye hain. Jaisa aapne kaha durbhagyawash usme kuch nagrik aise hain jinko apni jaan wahan gawani padi aur unke mrut shav wapas lautaye gaye. Hamari suchna ke anusar abhi bhi kareeb 20 Bhartiya nagrik hain jinka Russian army se jinko abhi discharge hona hain, aur hamare log jo hain, hamare dootawas ke jo adhikarigan hain woh Russian videsh mantralaya se aur Russian raksha mantralaya se lagatar sampark mei hain aur jald se jald hamain aasha hain ki sabhi Bhartiya nagrik wapas Bharat laut aayenge.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Smita, regarding your question about Indian citizens who were recruited into the Russian army, we have been in very close touch with our interlocutors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Russia on this issue of Indians who were illegally or otherwise contracted into fighting in the Russian army. This matter was taken up at the highest levels including by the Prime Minister with President Putin. Our understanding at the present moment, as per present information, is that about 85 people have returned from Russia. Unfortunately, we have also had the return of some mortal remains of people who lost their lives during the conflict. Our understanding is that nearly 20 people still remain and we are pressing our interlocutors for the early discharge of all remaining Indians in the armed forces there.
Just to mention in English, we have been in very close touch with our interlocutors in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Russia on this issue of Indians who were illegally or otherwise contracted into fighting in the Russian army. This matter was taken up at the highest levels including by the Prime Minister with President Putin. Our understanding at the present moment, as per present information, is that about 85 people have returned from Russia. Unfortunately, we have also had the return of some mortal remains of people who lost their lives during the conflict. Our understanding is that nearly 20 people still remain and we are pressing our interlocutors for the early discharge of all remaining Indians in the armed forces there.
Huma: Sir I am Huma Siddiqui from the Financial Express. I just wanted to check, earlier this year in June there was a proposal which has been discussed with the BRICS members regarding the BRICS Space Council. So if you have any update on that? And also there were talks of sharing data on National Space Phenomena including Asteroids. So if this will be discussed when the Prime Minister is there.
Alexey: Yes, good afternoon. I'm Alexey from the Russian newspaper. So I have two questions. The first one, what is the vision of India of future of BRICS taking into account the growing amount of countries applying for membership and the world polarization? So in your opinion, whether it should be reformed somehow, the organization BRICS in the future? What should be its mission and the strategical tasks? And the second one, does India expect any historical decisions during this Summit? For example, creating joint currency or something like that. Thank you.
Rishabh: Foreign Secretary, good afternoon. This is Rishabh from Times Now. I just wanted to understand what will be India's stand given the situation in West Asia. We have members from West Asia also joining in as members and invitees as well. And what will be the step forward for India when it comes to Russia-Ukraine conflict given that between last bilateral with President Putin and this, Prime Minister has already visited Ukraine as well as United States.
Sudhi: Sir Sudhi Ranjan from Bloomberg. Sir, if you could clarify what you announced just now, is it a patrolling issue that is being resolved with China or the border standoff so to say has been resolved? And two, sir, we understand that there is going to be some discussion on a BRICS currency which is a float of currencies also about 40% pegged to the gold. This is what we are getting to hear, if you could give us some clarity on that, sir.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: I think, Huma, on your question related to BRICS Space Council, what I have for you is that recently BRICS countries have signed an agreement on remote sensing satellite cooperation to jointly address challenges pertaining to climate change, natural disasters and environmental protection. Through the space vertical, the intention is to essentially foster economic cooperation and discussions on a number of other specific areas including the one that you have mentioned about the Space Council or cooperation regarding data on Asteroids are ongoing. I don’t have any specific details to offer on this at the present moment but I will ask my colleagues to come back to you with more specific details on this particular issue.
With regard to the question on the future of BRICS and in view of international developments and what the mission and the task of BRICS should be, I would say that look at the context in which BRICS came together and how BRICS cooperation has been shaped along its three primary verticals which is political and strategic cooperation, economic and commercial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation. I think going ahead into the future, while each of these verticals becomes more and more populated, I think these will remain the main axes of action by BRICS and we will continue to see, as far as India is concerned our role in BRICS as an important voice in the growing debate around the world on multipolarity, on the need for global governance reform whether it is reform of the institutions related to peace and security such as the UN Security Council or whether it is related to the reform of the International Financial Architecture, the IMF and other similar organizations or indeed the trade architecture such as the WTO. These would, to my mind, form the primary mission and task of BRICS, both the existing founding members who have been at it for several years and the new members who have joined now.
As to whether there will be any historic decisions at the coming Summit, I think I leave that to the deliberations of the leaders. I would not want to preempt such decisions. I think we have to wait for the Summit to complete its work to learn of the historic decisions.
Rishabh, your question on West Asia, our stance on West Asia has been consistent and firm over a long period of time. Insofar as developments over the last one year are concerned, we have unreservedly and explicitly condemned acts of terrorism. At the same time, as the conflict has grown, and in a sense expanded, we have called for a ceasefire, a release of hostages, there is a particularly serious humanitarian situation which has developed and we have accordingly called for a humanitarian corridor for access to humanitarian aid and the aid to be able to get to those who are most in need, as also for guarding against an expansion of the conflict that would pull in more and more actors and make the issue even more complicated to resolve and for that it is important to get back to dialogue and diplomacy using whatever resources are available within the region and those of actors from beyond the region as well.
Insofar as one of the most important issues in West Asia is concerned, which is the issue between Israel and Palestine, again on that, our position has been very, very clear. We support an independent state of Palestine living within well-recognized and secure borders at peace side by side with a sovereign state of Israel as its neighbor.
On your other question on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, again I think I have had the opportunity to answer this question from this platform earlier as well. You are aware of the meetings and the discussions that have taken place between Prime Minister and President Putin as well as President Zelensky. Most recently the Prime Minister also met President Zelensky in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. We have continued to emphasize our basic approach to the conflict that war will not resolve these issues. No solutions can be found from the battlefield. For any solution to be found, it is important for all the stakeholders, the relevant stakeholders to be at the table and for them to discuss this issue directly with each other.
As you are aware, the Prime Minister has been in close contact even after his visits to Moscow and Kyiv with leaders from the United States, Russia as well as Ukraine and we have continued our contacts at the official level also to try and explore how we can move towards bringing about or finding the contours of an approach that can bring everybody together on an acceptable path towards peace and we will continue to do that.
Sudhi, your question on the agreement that has been reached, let me restate what I said earlier. I think what I have said speaks for itself and is fairly clear. You are aware of the events that took place in 2020 in several areas along the Line of Actual Control. We have been in discussions with Chinese interlocutors both at a diplomatic level through the WMCC as was mentioned earlier as well and at the military level as well through meetings of the Military Commanders at various levels. These discussions had in the past resulted in the resolution of standoffs at various locations. You are also aware that there were a few areas and few locations where the standoff had not been resolved. Now as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and this is leading to disengagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.
You had another question on BRICS currency. I must confess that I am not aware of the floating of a card but I am aware that there have been discussions on settlement systems and payment systems and there has been a number of discussions between our financial authorities. This is I think being discussed in the Finance Ministers’ track and the Central Bank Governors’ track as well. My understanding is that no final agreements have been arrived at as yet but there have been intense discussions. There has been a certain amount of research that has been commissioned on these issues. Some papers have also been produced for the consideration of the different members. I think we are still in the stage where some work needs to be done.
Yes, fundamentally I think it is a fact that the countries have stressed the importance of the use of local currencies for settlement purposes especially as it comes to or as it pertains to trade. So strengthening of correspondent banking networks amongst the BRICS partners and enabling settlements in local currencies is being encouraged. In the first stage, there is emphasis on doing this on a bilateral basis and once there is greater certainty and experience that is gained to move on it on a multilateral basis as well.
Srinjoy: Sir, you spoke about patrolling resuming. Now there were two friction points that existed before the Galwan problem and these were cases where patrolling was blocked. So when you say that patrolling has resumed, can we assume that these two friction points, the problems there, because both sides were blocking the patrolling, the Chinese did that first, then India did it, those problems have been eliminated?
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: So let me say it again, an agreement has been reached on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas. Thank you all.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you.