BRICS a symbol of global change: EAM

New Delhi, June 1

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in South Africa on Thursday that BRICS was a symbol of global change and the decisions it would take would have far-reaching consequences.

He was delivering his opening remarks at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ conference, which will take a view on applications from 19 countries as well as consider the possibility of defying the International Criminal Court by hosting the Russian President for its summit in South Africa in August. South Africa is not a stranger to defying the ICC. In 2015, it had refused to execute an ICC arrest warrant for then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Jaishankar also had an equally busy day on the sidelines of the BRICS meet. Besides the mandatory meeting with host and South African Foreign Minister, he also met his counterparts from Russia Sergey Lavrov and Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan and is scheduled to hold a bilateral with Chinese FM Qin Gang.