India participates in BRICS Middle East North Africa meeting

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India participated in the Ninth BRICS Middle East North Africa (MENA) Meeting, on Wednesday, in Cape Town, under the chairmanship of South Africa.

During the meeting, the member countries exchanged views on hotspots and the overall regional situation.

On Twitter, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) met today in a hybrid format in Cape Town, under the chairmanship of South Africa. Members exchanged views on hotspots and overall regional situation.”

During the meeting, they noted that rising global instability and uncertainties have negatively impacted global peace, security and development including in the region, according to the joint statement released by MEA.

“They expressed serious concern over continued conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa that pose threats to regional and international peace, stability and security,” the statement read.

“Equally, they stated that regional crises should be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic dialogue based on unconditional respect for independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of all MENA countries,” it added.

The member countries also reaffirmed their commitment to the basic principle that peace and security in the MENA region should be achieved and sustained in accordance with, and in full respect for, international law and the United Nations (UN) Charter. They reaffirmed the primary role of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in maintaining international peace and security.

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Candith Mashego-Dlamini announced that Saudi Arabia and Iran are entering into a new friendly phase, which was facilitated by China on March 10, 2023, in Beijing.

We warmly welcome this agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, to re-open their Embassies and missions in the next two months. We maintain that the rapprochement between these two countries will greatly contribute towards peace, stability and development in the region,” Dlamini said.

“We equally welcome and are proud of the role played by our fellow BRICS member, the Peoples Republic of China, as well as the role played by Oman and Iraq, in the mediation and facilitation of this agreement,” she added.

She added that Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with Syrian President Bashar, the second positive development in the region. The visit was designed to find a political solution to Syria’s civil war and the normalisation of Saudi Syrian relations.

“South Africa is deeply concerned by the continuing levels of violence and grave attacks directed against Palestinians in recent months by Israeli settlers and Israeli occupation forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The brutality and provocative rhetoric of these actions perpetuate an endemic cycle of violence which is not conducive to peace, and detracts from a just settlement, based on a two-State solution,” South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation said.

“South Africa remains committed to a solution premised on a just settlement with just laws that are rights-based. We reiterate our support for the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights including but not limited to their right to self-determination,” she added. (ANI)