One member blocked Pakistan’s participation in BRICS, FO confirms

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office on Monday confirmed that Pakistan’s participation in the High-level Dialogue on Global Development at the sidelines of BRICS, hosted by China, was blocked by one member, ARY NEWS reported.

The Foreign Office spokesperson while responding to media queries said that they have noted that this year a “High-level Dialogue on Global Development” was held as a BRICS side event in which a number of developing economies were invited.

“China being the host country engaged with Pakistan prior to the BRICS meetings, where decisions are taken after consultations with all BRICS members, including extending invitation to non-members,” it said.

The spokesman however added that regrettably, one member blocked Pakistan’s participation.

The Foreign Office congratulated China on the successful hosting of the BRICS meetings and hoped that they do hope that future engagement of the organization would be based on the principles of inclusivity keeping in view the overall interests of the developing world and in a manner that is devoid of narrow geopolitical considerations.

“We appreciate China’s role in promoting the interests of the developing countries,” he said and added that together with China, Pakistan has been a strong voice for global peace, shared prosperity and inclusive development.

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The spokesperson said that Pakistan is the current chair of G77+China and is also a part of the group of friends of the Global Development Initiative(GDI).

“Pakistan and China are all-weather strategic partners and our iron brotherhood remains rock solid. The two countries are fully committed to taking our all-round cooperation to higher levels both bilaterally and multilaterally.”

The spokesman further said that Pakistan stands ready to work with all developing countries, including the BRICS members for addressing the challenges faced by the global community.