Borkena
Toronto – The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attending 17th BRICS summit.
Official arrival ceremony for all the leaders attending the meeting was scheduled in the morning. The two-day summit will conclude on Monday.
Reforming the global governance is among agenda items that the BRICS discussed at this summit.
The block currently has 11 members. Ethiopia became a member in January 2024. Apart from Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, The UAE and Indonesia are accepted as members.
In a message he shared on social media on Sunday, he said ” ‘Alongside fellow BRICS leaders at this year’s summit in Rio De Janeiro. Together, we continue to strengthen our partnership in pursuit of a more equitable and just world. The BRICS platform remains vital in advancing shared development and global cooperation.”
During his first day in Rio de Janeiro, Abiy met with president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The discussed multilateral and bilateral matters but Abiy did not disclose details of the meeting.
“…I had the pleasure of meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss bilateral and multilateral issues. Our meeting today marks another step forward in strengthening the relationship between our two nations, which has grown significantly in recent years. We agreed to further enhance trade and investment ties across various sectors,” Abiy Ahmed wrote on his social media. In May this year, Brazil and Ethiopia signed a MoU to cooperate in the area of agriculture.
On Sunday, Abiy Ahmed met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Ethiopian officials often describe the relationship with China as “all weather.” Prime Minister Abiy reiterated it in his message from Rio de Janeiro. His meeting with the Chinese Primer covered deepening collaboration in artificial intelligence, logistics, and the clean energy sector.”
Ethiopia has been campaigning for debt relief and restructuring. Last week, the Ministry of Finance announced that it has reached an agreement for a $3.5 billion debt relief with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), China is the chair of the committee.
Notable Absence
Chinese and Russian presidents did not make it to the Summit this year. The Chinese leader is missing the summit for the first time since the establishment of BRICS due to reported scheduling conflict.
President Putin conveyed a message virtually. According to RT, Putin made a reference to IMF data to assert that the combined GDP of the BRICS has surpassed that of the G7 countries.
RT quoted him as saying “BRICS’ combined GDP measured by purchasing power parity already stands at $77 trillion, that’s according to 2025 IMF data…’on this metric, BRICS considerably outstrips some other groups, including the Group of Seven.’”
Message from the Leaders at the summit
The leaders discussed “peace and security and reform of global governance”, and Strengthening Multilateralism, Economic-Financial Affairs, and Artificial Intelligence on the first day of the summit, according to BRICS media.
Source reported that Brazilian President Lula stated “we are witnessing the unparalleled collapse of multilateralism.” He also said that the meeting is happening “in the most adverse global scenario.” He urged leaders to promote peace and mediate conflicts.
The summit came weeks after the world was on the brink of a major conflict due to the conflict between Iran and Israel. Iran responded to Israel firing dozens of missiles targeting several Israeli cities including Tel-Aviv. While more than five hundreds were killed in Iran, including top military generals and scientists, at least 28 were reportedly killed in Israel. The United States supported Israel and bombed three Iranian nuclear sites deploying bunker bombers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on leaders to condemn terrorism.
On Monday, the summit will discuss environment and health, among other things.
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