The United States has reiterated its commitment to maintaining a strong and positive relationship with India, Brazil, and South Africa. In a media briefing on Tuesday, US Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel emphasized the US’s ongoing collaboration with these countries in various key areas, as well as the intention to responsibly manage its relationship with China.
On being asked about BRICS Summit, Vedant Patel said, “We believe all countries are sovereign countries and they have their own choice about the countries and groupings in which that they associate. What the United States is focused on and the approach that we bring to all of the foreign policy and the diplomacy we conduct is that we are focused on working with partners around the world to build the broadest and deepest coalitions possible to help achieve our shared goals.”
“We want to enhance the value proposition of what the United States can bring to the table and we want to work with countries through investments and in the kinds of things that we know these kinds of countries are looking for and we’re looking to sharpen and deepen and broaden our partnerships in that way. and of course the multilateral institutions whether it be the UN, G20, groupings like APEC, ASEAN of course are important and vital avenues for us to do that,” he added.
Patel said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken places emphasis on continuing to engage with those nations.
“When it comes to China, our goal is to continue to manage that relationship responsibly, manage our competition with China responsibly. That is what we know that the rest of the world expects of superpowers and lastly, as it relates to Russia, we will continue to push back on Russian aggression and make clear to any country on the planet it can no longer be business as usual with the Russian Federation,” he added.
Asked about UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ participation in the BRICS Summit in Kazan while not attending Ukraine Peace Summit held in Switzerland in June, Patel responded, “I will let the Secretary-General and his team speak to whatever scheduling decisions they have or have not made. I just want to be clear though Secretary-General Guterres, I think, has the UN system in itself has been an incredible partner when we were talking about holding the Russian federation accountable and making in almost as unison as one can be in the UN system, making it clear that there’s a strong collection of countries that are standing up against Russian aggression, its infringement on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, its infringement on Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
The 16th BRICS Summit, held under Russia’s chairmanship in Kazan, focuses on the theme “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security,” offering leaders a platform to address key global challenges.
BRICS, originally formed in 2006 by Russia, India, and China, expanded to include South Africa in 2010. Further expansion took place in 2024, with the inclusion of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
(ANI)