Role of IBSA amidst weak multilateralism

In his blog post on International anarchy and weak multilateralism, William Manful, a human rights advocate from Africa discusses the declining role of UN as a multilateral body. Among other possible remedies, he proposes IBSA as the joint action that the world needs to bring some innovations to the practice of multilateral diplomacy. He bases his proposition on the economic might of IBSA states which place them in a good position to use finance and resources as leverage in the quest for a revision of multilateralism.

Interview with Celso Amorim, one of the fathers of IBSA forum

Celso Amorim, one of the fathers of the IBSA Forum (India, Brazil, and South Africa) says in this interview that for this alliance of three major emerging powers, “Helping the poorest countries is clearly one of its callings”.

According to him IBSA was created as a guide for policy formulation and South-South cooperation between India, Brazil, and South Africa, three countries with much in common. He opines that commonalities of the IBSA countries are more evident than for the BRICS countries and trade is a good area to demonstrate how cooperation between the IBSA countries can move more quickly than BRICS. He feels that IBSA needs to preserve its personality while dealing in large groups on various global issues like climate change. His concluding remark was that IBSA's role in protecting the interests of the poorest  is what gives it uniqueness and international legitimacy.

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IBSA versus BRICS

With the entry of South Africa into the BRIC club, there have been intense speculations about the fate of IBSA amidst rumors that China wants BRICS to be amalgamated with IBSA dialogue forum. This is essentially moving into a show down between India and China as India wants IBSA to continue and thrive as a forum where India’s strategic space is not shadowed by giant neighbour while China seems to have other plans. India also looks at IBSA as a counterweight to China’s ambitions in Africa. 

However, IBSA’s sustainability will depend on its ability to carve a unique niche for itself in the geo-political strategy, a space that would not be  sidelined byBRICS activities. Analysts suggest that BRICS can focus more on political concerns of the countries while IBSA can play a significant role through viable, relevant projects that build co-operation among the countries and improve the overall quality of life.