06-10-2008, 07:39 PM
Meanwhile Pioneer, 11 June 2008
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Club of Four talks shop
India, Russia, China and Brazil should work together on global issues, writes Dmitry Kosyrev
It is difficult to judge the results of the Foreign Ministers' meetings of the Club of Four -- tomorrow's world leaders -- by the documents, which they have produced. <b>There were two meetings -- RIC (Russia, India, and China) and BRIC (Brazil and the same three) -- on May 15 and May 16 respectively.</b>
<b>There were also bilateral meetings in between</b>. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed President Dmitry Medvedev's coming Chinese visit with his colleague Yang Jiechi. Later, he met Mr Pranab Mukherjee to talk about the not-so-great 'Year of Russia' in India. Mr Celso Amorim from Brazil, too, had bilateral meetings with his colleagues.
<b>All in all, the meetings produced two communiques.</b> But for the most part such documents are written in advance and then adopted routinely. Quite often, many questions reflected in the communique are not even seriously discussed for obvious reasons. <b>In this case, for one, it is clear that all four powers stand for a multi-polar world and the UN's central role. This is only natural because each of them is a pole -- a powerful global and regional centre of influence. Predictions about at least two of them -- China and India -- becoming the world's biggest economies are making the Club of Four even more enthusiastic about a multi-polar future.</b>
It is also clear that the future leaders are strong enough to talk about rights and freedoms without double standards, and with respect for all global civilisations. These ideas are expressed in the communiques. One of them mentions, for instance, that unilateral proclamation of Kosovo's independence contradicts international law. Incidentally, Brazil's Foreign Minister was not concerned over Kosovo, and the BRIC's communique does not mention it. But multi-ethnic Russia, India and China know too well what happens if each terrorist outfit starts proclaiming the independence of the seized territory.
If this similarity of positions was predictable, was it worth meeting in Yekaterinburg in order to remind the world what the claimants to global leadership think? This question requires a positive answer because the negotiating marathon produced more interesting results.
<b>These results are very different because for the RIC this is the eighth meeting, and for BRIC only the third.</b>
<b>Russia, India and China have declared very confidently for the first time that the long-standing idea of trilateral communication at top and diplomatic level is working. It has produced many spin-offs, which always testifies to success.</b> They are not very visible to the outside world -- at one time the movement towards integration in the EU or ASEAN looked pretty much the same.
In this case, <b>we see trilateral co-operation in agriculture, regular meetings of businessmen and academic experts, and contacts in healthcare and medicine.</b> Russia has proposed promoting trilateral cultural programmes. This is almost tantamount to an organisation.
The RIC meeting in Harbin (China) last October is a point of departure. The next meeting will be held in India, and there is no doubt that RIC will advance its cause.
<b>Three Ministers made interesting statements on the region which lies at the juncture of the RIC borders in Central Asia.</b> This is the region in which RIC has the biggest influence. The communique does not comment on India's desire to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This is a long-standing and complicated issue. <b>But Moscow and Beijing welcome India's more active role in the SCO as an observer.</b> This is an obvious step forward.
Iran is also playing a major role in the region. Although RIC does not approve of Tehran's constant challenges to the West, it does not deny Iran the right to develop a civilian nuclear programme. In the past, China and Russia also controlled the discussion of this situation at different talks. But India's position has become clearer, especially after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit to New Delhi. Importantly<b>, the RIC countries consider the EU and the United States their key economic partners, and will not cast challenges to them without reason. But they want to protect the stability of their region together, and this is what they decided to do in Yekaterinburg.</b>
<b>Compared to RIC, the BRIC results are not so impressive.</b> The Brazilian Minister was primarily interested in opening new markets for his country and co-operation with new partners. This is a long-standing policy. <b>In trade, Brazil has long departed from the Latin American focus on the New World markets. Brazilians have been talking with Africans and Arabs. Experts believe that this ability to diversify ties will help Brazil to play a special role in the world in the future.</b>
<b>The BRIC meeting made a special emphasis on energy for two reasons. First, India and China are importers of energy resources; and, second, Brazil favours bio-fuel and nuclear energy. In this sense, it is more like India than China.</b>
The four countries are already used to discussing common problems. <b>Hopefully, they do not allow anyone to put them at loggerheads in the drive for markets, resources or political advantages.</b> As for fully-fledged economic co-operation, they are still trying to develop it.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Club of Four talks shop
India, Russia, China and Brazil should work together on global issues, writes Dmitry Kosyrev
It is difficult to judge the results of the Foreign Ministers' meetings of the Club of Four -- tomorrow's world leaders -- by the documents, which they have produced. <b>There were two meetings -- RIC (Russia, India, and China) and BRIC (Brazil and the same three) -- on May 15 and May 16 respectively.</b>
<b>There were also bilateral meetings in between</b>. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed President Dmitry Medvedev's coming Chinese visit with his colleague Yang Jiechi. Later, he met Mr Pranab Mukherjee to talk about the not-so-great 'Year of Russia' in India. Mr Celso Amorim from Brazil, too, had bilateral meetings with his colleagues.
<b>All in all, the meetings produced two communiques.</b> But for the most part such documents are written in advance and then adopted routinely. Quite often, many questions reflected in the communique are not even seriously discussed for obvious reasons. <b>In this case, for one, it is clear that all four powers stand for a multi-polar world and the UN's central role. This is only natural because each of them is a pole -- a powerful global and regional centre of influence. Predictions about at least two of them -- China and India -- becoming the world's biggest economies are making the Club of Four even more enthusiastic about a multi-polar future.</b>
It is also clear that the future leaders are strong enough to talk about rights and freedoms without double standards, and with respect for all global civilisations. These ideas are expressed in the communiques. One of them mentions, for instance, that unilateral proclamation of Kosovo's independence contradicts international law. Incidentally, Brazil's Foreign Minister was not concerned over Kosovo, and the BRIC's communique does not mention it. But multi-ethnic Russia, India and China know too well what happens if each terrorist outfit starts proclaiming the independence of the seized territory.
If this similarity of positions was predictable, was it worth meeting in Yekaterinburg in order to remind the world what the claimants to global leadership think? This question requires a positive answer because the negotiating marathon produced more interesting results.
<b>These results are very different because for the RIC this is the eighth meeting, and for BRIC only the third.</b>
<b>Russia, India and China have declared very confidently for the first time that the long-standing idea of trilateral communication at top and diplomatic level is working. It has produced many spin-offs, which always testifies to success.</b> They are not very visible to the outside world -- at one time the movement towards integration in the EU or ASEAN looked pretty much the same.
In this case, <b>we see trilateral co-operation in agriculture, regular meetings of businessmen and academic experts, and contacts in healthcare and medicine.</b> Russia has proposed promoting trilateral cultural programmes. This is almost tantamount to an organisation.
The RIC meeting in Harbin (China) last October is a point of departure. The next meeting will be held in India, and there is no doubt that RIC will advance its cause.
<b>Three Ministers made interesting statements on the region which lies at the juncture of the RIC borders in Central Asia.</b> This is the region in which RIC has the biggest influence. The communique does not comment on India's desire to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This is a long-standing and complicated issue. <b>But Moscow and Beijing welcome India's more active role in the SCO as an observer.</b> This is an obvious step forward.
Iran is also playing a major role in the region. Although RIC does not approve of Tehran's constant challenges to the West, it does not deny Iran the right to develop a civilian nuclear programme. In the past, China and Russia also controlled the discussion of this situation at different talks. But India's position has become clearer, especially after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit to New Delhi. Importantly<b>, the RIC countries consider the EU and the United States their key economic partners, and will not cast challenges to them without reason. But they want to protect the stability of their region together, and this is what they decided to do in Yekaterinburg.</b>
<b>Compared to RIC, the BRIC results are not so impressive.</b> The Brazilian Minister was primarily interested in opening new markets for his country and co-operation with new partners. This is a long-standing policy. <b>In trade, Brazil has long departed from the Latin American focus on the New World markets. Brazilians have been talking with Africans and Arabs. Experts believe that this ability to diversify ties will help Brazil to play a special role in the world in the future.</b>
<b>The BRIC meeting made a special emphasis on energy for two reasons. First, India and China are importers of energy resources; and, second, Brazil favours bio-fuel and nuclear energy. In this sense, it is more like India than China.</b>
The four countries are already used to discussing common problems. <b>Hopefully, they do not allow anyone to put them at loggerheads in the drive for markets, resources or political advantages.</b> As for fully-fledged economic co-operation, they are still trying to develop it.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->