Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says BRICS member countries and the friends of BRICS must ensure peace and security around the world.
She is hosting a two-day meeting of National Security Advisors in Johannesburg, ahead of the BRICS summit next month.
A high-level delegation from BRICS members and friends of BRICS are gathering in Johannesburg to take stock of current challenges facing the world.
Topping the agenda is the issue of security that often leads to other challenges such as economic and political instability.
“This is the time for us to seek resilience and extend friendship to our people and it is for that reason South Africa deemed it fit to invite the friends of BRICS to join us, so that we can converse as a family on this day, and chart a way forward together for global resilience for global peace and innovation,” she says.
Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, representing the host nation has called on countries to prioritise peace and security.
As the world grapples with conflicts, the other BRICS members shared similar sentiments.
Secretary of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Platonovic Patruchev, says the world must fight against the western nations’ dominance.
“The global minority trying to rule the whole world and we are sure that in the interest of the sovereign countries we must stop the dictatorship of the Americans and posing on other dictatorship in all other countries and the world,” says Patruchev.
Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission in China, Wang Yi, says cyberspace has also brought some challenges in the developing countries.
“Cyber technology has been developing fast, which has significantly improved peoples capacity and shaping the world. That said, we are now seeing growing trends of camp based division, militarising, fragmentation and ideolocalisation in cyber space. This has caused impact and challenges to emerging markets and developing countries.”
National Security Advisor of India, Ajit Kumar Doval, has called on the BRICS member countries to invest in technology to be able to fight cyber crime.
“It is imperative to for all of us to prioritise cyber security investing and technological infrastructure enhancing capacity building, initiatives and fostering international corporation.”
Chief Advisor of the Presidency in Brazil, Celso Amorim, says cyber crime in Brazil has caused losses of billions of dollars this year alone.
“It was estimated that the cyber offences in Brazil in 2023 there can be more than seven billion dollars and this has a negative influence on the receiver of revenue.”
The BRICS friends who are also part of this two-day meeting are Egypt, Burundi, Cuba, Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kazakhstan.
The BRICS countries will continue with the meeting on Tuesday and the war in Ukraine will likely dominate the discussions.
