President Lula Calls BRICS The Heir Of Non-Aligned Movements, Calls For Global Reform

Brazilian President Lula while speaking at the opening of the 2025 BRICS Summit. (Source: BRICS Brazil)

JAKARTA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva likened BRICS to a Non-Aligned organization and called for reforms to global institutions at the organization's Summit in Brazil on Sunday.

BRICS presented the bloc as a haven for multilateral diplomacy amid violent conflicts and trade wars.

With forums such as the main G7 and G20 economic groups hampered by the perturbation and disruptive "America First" approach of United States President Donald Trump, the expansion of the BRICS has opened up new spaces for diplomatic coordination.

In his opening remarks at the summit in Rio de Janeiro, President Lula likened BRICS to the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, a group of developing countries that refused to join both sides of the polarized global order.

"BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement," Lula told leaders.

"With multilateralism being attacked, our autonomy is again threatened," he said.

"BRICS countries now represent more than half the world's population and 40 percent of its economic output," President Lula said in remarks on Saturday to business leaders warning about rising protectionism.

The expansion of the BRICS has added to the diplomatic weight at the meeting, which aspires to speak on behalf of developing countries across the Southern hemisphere, amplifying calls for reforming global institutions such as the United Nations Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.

"If international governance does not reflect the reality of the new multipolar 21st century, then BRICS should help update it," President Lula said in remarks, highlighting the failure of the US-led war in the Middle East.

Urging BRICS to lead the reforms, President Lula reflected on the G20 summit held at the same location last November: "In no time, the international situation has deteriorated until some of the initiatives we agreed to at that time were unlikely to be carried out now."

BRICS was founded in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. The bloc then added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as members. This is the first summit of leaders to include Indonesia.

"The vacancy left by other parties was finally filled almost instantly by BRICS," said a Brazilian diplomat who asked not to be named.

More than 30 countries have expressed interest in participating in BRICS, both as full members and partners.