Shubhda Chaudhary: Has IBSA become redundant now that South Africa has acceded to the BRICS group?

Ruchita Beri replies: IBSA will continue to be relevant despite South Africa’s accession to the BRICS group. We must remember that the IBSA dialogue forum brings together three large democratic countries from different continents - Asia, Africa and South America. In comparison to BRICS, the IBSA has managed to develop a framework of multi-sectoral cooperation. Various working groups set up under the rubric of the IBSA dialogue forum has taken diverse initiatives towards South-South cooperation.

Further, IBSA countries have been successful in coordinating positions at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on issues of global concern. This was quite evident by the visit of IBSA representatives to Syria and the coordination of positions in this context by the three countries at the UNSC. In the case of BRICS, the fact that it is a more diverse grouping composed of democracies as well as autocracies with differing geopolitical interests, limits the possibilities of synchronizing positions.