Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin has praised the BRICS New Delhi Declaration, saying it addresses the core needs of the Global South and provides a practical framework for tackling shared global challenges.
In an exclusive interaction with ANI, Lubetkin said issues such as environmental stability, peace, geopolitical pressures, trade and artificial intelligence affect countries across regions, making the outcomes of the BRICS Summit relevant well beyond the grouping.
He said the declaration successfully captured the priorities of participating leaders and described it as a useful and practical framework for addressing common challenges.
Lubetkin said countries should recognise that challenges discussed at international forums are often shared by nations in different regions and that identifying common problems can help develop faster and more effective solutions.
India-Uruguay ties
Highlighting his bilateral engagements during his visit to New Delhi, Lubetkin described his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as one of the most significant moments of the visit.
He said India and Uruguay had used the meeting to translate discussions held last year into a concrete roadmap for bilateral cooperation.
According to Lubetkin, the two countries have outlined how they intend to develop their relationship through the end of 2027, building on their shared identity as “solid democracies”.
He also welcomed the appointment of India’s first resident ambassador to Uruguay, describing it as a significant development in bilateral ties.
Push for deeper India-Mercosur trade ties
Lubetkin said he also discussed trade with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, particularly the expansion of the India-Mercosur trade agreement.
He said the preferential terms discussed a decade ago are no longer sufficient in view of rapid changes in the global economy.
“What was discussed 10 years ago is not enough now, because all is moving very quickly,” Lubetkin said, calling for the relationship to move to a new stage.
He said India and Mercosur should work towards a strategic agreement aimed at deepening economic and business ties.
The Uruguayan Foreign Minister also pointed to the potential for stronger engagement between India and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), saying regional and bilateral economic engagement could accelerate significantly.
Uruguay backs UN reform
On reform of the United Nations and India’s longstanding demand for reform of the UN Security Council, Lubetkin said structural changes are necessary while stressing that the United Nations remains indispensable to global governance.
He acknowledged that the UN faces significant challenges and said there are differences over the nature and scope of reform.
However, he cautioned against questioning the continued relevance of the world body.
“We can criticize, we need to think to reform, but something that we cannot think is to close United Nations,” he said, adding that the focus should be on finding ways to make the organisation more effective.
He also pointed to upcoming changes in the UN’s leadership as an important part of the wider discussion on reform and representation of the Global South.
BRICS as an ‘ecosystem of solutions’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his concluding remarks at the two-day BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, said the grouping had evolved beyond being merely an association of nations and described it as an “ecosystem of solutions”.
PM Modi expressed hope that the New Delhi Declaration would provide clear direction for BRICS’ shared vision and future cooperation.
He stressed that the outcomes of the summit should be translated into time-bound actions that deliver tangible, last-mile impact.
The Prime Minister said the world now expects concrete results from BRICS and expressed confidence that the grouping would meet those expectations.
