A Joint Declaration was signed at the 18th annual BRICS Summit, held in New Delhi, India, from 12–13 September. The new declaration strengthens cooperation between participating nations under three key pillars.
These areas of collaboration include politics and security, economics and finance, and culture and interpersonal cooperation. The three pillars aim to enhance strategic partnerships through the promotion of peace, international order, sustainable development, and inclusive growth.
This week’s Joint Declaration affirms the importance of reliable, responsible, diversified, resilient, fair, sustainable, and just critical mineral supply chains for the shared benefit, value addition, and economic diversification of countries of origin. It also recognises the significance of critical minerals in the development of zero- and low-emissions technologies, energy security, and supply chains.
The declaration identifies the rights of resource-rich countries to fully preserve “sovereign rights over their mineral resources, as well as their right to adopt, maintain, and enforce measures necessary to pursue legitimate public policy objectives”.
Around the world, new regulations banning the export of raw materials are being used to add value domestically through processing prior to export, ensuring that countries of origin benefit economically from their mineral wealth.
Speaking at the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the “weaponisation of technology and critical minerals can hinder our shared progress”, and called for inclusivity and cooperation on these issues.
Additional areas of concern for this year’s BRICS summit included statements on the continued wars in the Middle East, calling for “maximum restraint” to avoid escalation, while also voicing concerns about tariffs and trade tensions.
BRICS is a group of 11 major emerging economies, including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. Additional partner countries include Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Main image: Prime Minister’s Office, India
