NEW DELHI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the five-nation BRICS bloc issued a declaration on a broad range of international issues, including their recipe for securing stability, security and prosperity, after their one-day summit here on Thursday.
The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met at the fourth BRICS summit to discuss global governance and sustainable development and to coordinate their stands on major world and regional issues, under the theme of BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity.
The fourth BRICS summit came at a crucial moment for the bloc, with the global economic recovery still struggling against fragile financial systems, high public and private debt, high unemployment and the rising price of oil. Pressing issues, such as climate change, food security and energy security are also posing challenges to the world.
The document highlights the roles of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Doha Round of trade talks, the possibility of establishing a new development bank for emerging economies and developing countries, the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly Syria and Iran, the situation in Afghanistan, energy and efforts to fight terrorism.
GLOBAL FINANCIAL REFORMS
In the declaration, the BRICS leaders called for a "more representative international financial architecture" to increase the voice and representation of developing countries, as well as the establishment and improvement of a just international monetary system that could serve the interests of all countries.
The leaders are concerned at the slow pace of quota and governance reforms in the IMF, and see an urgent need to implement the previously agreed reforms to better reflect economic weight and enhance the voice of the emerging markets and developing world.
"We call upon the IMF to make its surveillance framework more integrated and even-handed," the leaders said.
They also said that, in the current global economic environment, the five BRICS nations recognized a pressing need for enhancing the flow of development finance to the emerging and developing countries.
They called on the World Bank to give greater priority to meeting the needs of development finance, reducing lending costs and adopting innovative lending tools.
The declaration welcomes the nominations from developing world for the position of president of the World Bank, saying the leaders of the IMF and the World Bank should be selected through an "open and merit-based" process, while the new World Bank leadership must work to transform the Bank into a multilateral institution that truly reflected the vision of all its members, including a governance structure that reflected current economic and political reality.
The leaders have also considered the possibility of setting up a new development bank to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.
TRADE AND DOHA ROUND TALKS
The BRICS leaders said in the declaration their countries would commit to jointly safeguarding the current world trade system, which was now more representative because of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and urged other nations to resist all forms of trade protectionism.
They would also continue to work for a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of trade talks, saying they did not support plurilateral initiatives that went against the fundamental principles of transparency, inclusiveness and multilareralism.
They believed such initiatives not only distracted members from striving for a collective outcome but also failed to address the development deficit inherited from previous negotiating rounds.
The five leaders, who considered the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) the focal point in the U.N. system for trade and development issues, would push to improve its traditional activities of consensus-building, technical cooperation and research on issues of economic development and trade, adding they were willing to actively contribute to the success of the 13th UNCTAD conference next month.
They also agreed to advance their industrial development and promote employment through strengthening trade and investment within the bloc.
PROMOTING PEACE, STABILITY IN TROUBLED AREAS
"We recognize the vital importance that stability, peace and security of the Middle East and North Africa holds for all of us," the leaders said in the declaration.
They agreed the transformation in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used as a pretext to delay a resolution of lasting conflicts but rather it should serve as an incentive to settle them, in particular the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The five countries confirmed their commitment to achieving a "comprehensive, just and lasting settlement" of the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of the universally recognized international legal framework, including "the relevant U.N. resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative."
The leaders called for greater involvement of the U.N. Security Council in searching for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and underscored the importance of direct talks between the parties to reach a final settlement.
They also called upon Palestinians and Israelis to take constructive measures, rebuild mutual trust and create the right conditions for restarting negotiations, while avoiding unilateral steps, in particular settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Meanwhile, the five leaders urged an immediate end to all violence and violations of human rights in Syria, saying global interests would best be served through peaceful means, including broad national dialogues that reflected the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Syrian society and respected Syrian independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.
They also welcomed the progress made so far by Kofi Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis, adding they would support him in continuing to play a constructive role in bringing about a political resolution of the crisis.
On the Iranian nuclear issue, the leaders said the current situation in Iran could not be allowed to escalate into conflict. They recognized Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear power, and supported political and diplomatic settlement of the nuclear issue, including dialogue between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran.
On Afghanistan, the five members agreed the country needed "time, development assistance and cooperation, preferential access to world markets, foreign investment and a clear end-state strategy to attain lasting peace and stability."
They supported Afghanistan to become a peaceful, stable and democratic state, free of terrorism and extremism.
The leaders also reiterated their strong opposition to terrorism and believed the U.N. had a central role in coordinating international action against terrorism in accordance with the U.N. Charter and international laws, adding all U.N. members should adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism to address this global scourge.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The five BRICS nations said they were fully committed to playing their part in addressing climate change and would contribute to the global efforts through sustainable and inclusive growth and not by capping development.
They also said developed countries should provide enhanced financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing nations, so they could carry out their mitigation actions.
According to the declaration, the concept of a "green economy," which should be understood in the framework of sustainable development and poverty eradication, was a means to achieving these fundamental and overriding priorities, not an end in itself.
The leaders opposed the introduction of trade and investment barriers in any form on the grounds of developing a green economy, saying all nations were entitled to choose their paths towards sustainable development based on each country's stage of development, national strategies and priorities.
Additionally, the five countries would also expand their efforts in exploring clean and renewable energy to meet the increasing demand of economic growth and to respond to climate concerns, adding the civilian use of nuclear power should be conducted in line with relevant safety standards.
The emerging economies' bloc initially grouped Brazil, Russia, India and China, but was enlarged last year to include South Africa and renamed BRICS. The first BRIC summit was held in 2009 in Russia.
With roughly 42 percent of the world's population, BRICS had a combined nominal gross domestic product of 13.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2011, or 20 percent of the world's total, according to IMF estimates.
The bloc aims to expand trade among its members from 230 billion dollars last year to 500 billion dollars by 2015.
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