KABUL (Pajhwok): The foreign ministers’ meeting of the BRICS group began in New Delhi, the capital of India, on Thursday, a media report said.
The meeting is being held ahead of the 18th BRICS summit, which New Delhi is set to host in September, Al Jazeera reported.
It said foreign ministers arrived at 10:00am local time, with sessions expected to continue throughout the day and conclude with a dinner at 7:00pm. Another session is scheduled for Friday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not attend the meeting due to US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. Instead, China was represented by its ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, the report added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is expected to deliver a speech later in the day. He is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Brazil, Egypt, Malaysia, Russia, and Cuba on the sidelines of the gathering.
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the theme of the meeting is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
The ministry said discussions will focus on “people-centric and holistic healthcare,” with emphasis on cooperation in addressing pressing health challenges, including communicable and non-communicable diseases.
BRICS is an intergovernmental grouping established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011.
Several other countries joined the bloc at the beginning of 2024. Reports say Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and several others officially became BRICS partner states from January 1, 2025.
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