What is IBSA grouping?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the IBSA Leaders’ Meeting in Johannesburg on November 23.

• PM Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

• PM Modi emphasized that IBSA is not just a group of three countries but an important platform connecting three continents, three major democratic nations, and three major economies.

• Appreciating the IBSA Fund’s work in supporting projects across 40 countries in sectors like education, health, women empowerment and solar energy, PM Modi proposed IBSA Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture to further advance South-South cooperation.

• In September, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, and the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities of South Africa Sindisiwe Chikunga had met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York.

• The ministers had agreed to strengthen, expand and promote the IBSA Fund.

What is IBSA?

• IBSA is a unique forum which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different continents, facing similar challenges. 

• The grouping was formalised and named the IBSA Dialogue Forum when the foreign ministers of the three countries met in Brasilia on June 6, 2003 and issued the Brasilia Declaration.

• The IBSA has emerged as a key tripartite grouping for the promotion of cooperation in a range of areas.

• IBSA’s success demonstrates, most vividly, the desirability and feasibility of South-South cooperation beyond the conventional areas of exchange of experts and training. 

• The IBSA Fund is a special feature of IBSA collaboration, an internationally recognised initiative of South-South cooperation, with 51 projects in 40 countries.

Cooperation in IBSA is on three fronts:

a) As a forum for consultation and coordination on global and regional political issues, such as, the reform of the global institutions of political and economic governance, WTO/Doha Development Agenda, climate change, terrorism, etc.

b) Trilateral collaboration on concrete areas/projects, through fourteen working groups and six People-to-People Forums, for the common benefit of three countries.

c) Assisting other developing countries by taking up projects in the latter through IBSA Fund.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)