Uganda joins BRICS as Kampala Roots for New Strategic Partnerships

Uganda, on Thursday, officially joined BRICS as partner state, allowing Kampala more opportunities to cooperate with an economic grouping looking to challenge a Western-led global status quo.

The new partnership status follows months of speculation about Uganda’s interest in joining the group, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In a three-day-long summit in Kazan, Russia, the five countries of BRICS gathered with dozens of foreign leaders and top diplomats to promote a multipolar world order amid their growing disillusionment with Western-led institutions.

Chaired this year by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been at odds with the West following Moscow’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine in 2022, the talks centered on reducing dependence on the United States dollar, expanding the group and creating a “more inclusive and representative global order”.

A total of 13 countries officially joined BRICS’ alliance of partner countries, including Turkey, Indonesia, Algeria, Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Brazil.

Discussions with the new partner countries regarding their preparedness to become full members would continue, Kremlin officials were quoted as saying.

The final document of the 16th BRICS Summit, the “Kazan Declaration,” confirmed the establishment of the category of “BRICS Partner Countries, highlighting considerable interest from Global South nations.”

According to the Russian authorities, more than 30 countries have expressed their desire to collaborate in some way with the BRICS group.

Leaders from 36 countries attend the summit in Kazan

According to the organizers of the 16th BRICS Summit, 36 countries have sent leaders to participate. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is attended the summit, prompting criticism from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry criticized the fact that Guterres accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to attend the BRICS summit but abstained from the “peace summit” on the war in Ukraine.

“The UN Secretary-General rejected Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland,” said the Ukrainian ministry. “This is a wrong choice that does not promote the cause of peace. It only damages the reputation of the UN,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

According to UN spokesperson Farhan Haque, ‘the secretary-general will reiterate his well-known stance on the war in Ukraine and the conditions for a fair and just peace based on the UN Charter, international law, and UN resolutions.

Haque pointed out that Guterres attended the BRICS summit in Kazan “just as he did in South Africa, as this is standard practice for attending meetings of organizations such as the G7 and G20, which include many important states.”

Post Views: 1,020