New Delhi understands Rabat’s position on BRICS due to tensions between South Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita recently held a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart, Subramaniam Jaishankar. This call, which comes shortly before the BRICS meeting in South Africa, is aimed at fostering the strategic partnership between the two nations.
The two ministers pledged to boost bilateral relations in various fields, exploring ways to further enhance collaboration “at an even more ambitious level”, according to a statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As Morocco World News recalls, the origins of Rabat-New Delhi goodwill date back to King Mohammed VI’s historic visit to India in November 2015. Since then, ties between the two countries have deepened in several areas, including economics, politics, culture and diplomacy. This recent conversation between Bourita and Jaishankar also highlighted cooperation in other areas such as trade, investment, science and technology in order to achieve outcomes that benefit the two nations.
In addition to bilateral issues, Bourita and Jaishankar discussed “regional and international issues of common interest, including the Kingdom’s relations with the BRICS”, as well as Morocco’s position on the global stage and its commitments to its international partners, according to the note issued by the Moroccan Ministry.
With regard to the BRICS – the bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially acknowledged the unilateral nature of the invitations sent by South Africa for the next BRICS-Africa meeting scheduled for 24 August in Johannesburg. According to the ministry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the meeting, which will be addressed by other participants, all of them “invited by South Africa”. Modi will also attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in South Africa from 22-24 August.
Regarding the BRICS-Africa meeting, a source in the Moroccan Foreign Ministry stressed that the initiative for the meeting came unilaterally from the South African government. The same source stressed that Morocco had never anticipated a positive response to the invitation to the summit, regardless of the level of commitment.
The official assured that Morocco has bilateral and promising relations with the other four members of the group, three of which have strategic partnership agreements with the Kingdom. However, Rabat has not officially applied to join the BRICS group.
Tensions between Morocco and South Africa do not harm ties between Rabat and the rest of the BRICS
Mohamed Lakrini, a Moroccan professor of international relations and international law, tells Al-Arab that India understands why Morocco refuses to participate in BRICS meetings. “The problem is related to South Africa’s position vis-à-vis Morocco and not the bloc as a whole,” he says. The tensions between South Africa and Morocco are due to Pretoria’s anti-Moroccan statements, as well as its views on Western Sahara.
Sherifa Lemoire, a professor of political science in Rabat, tells the Arabic-language media that “South Africa’s attempt to provoke Morocco through the BRICS summit failed”. In this regard, it is worth noting that only a day after Morocco announced that it would not attend the BRICS sessions, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated his country’s support for “the Sahrawi people to achieve their independence and secession from the Kingdom of Morocco”, which confirms that Pretoria is not a neutral actor and that its view on the issue contradicts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom, thus legitimising Rabat’s decision not to attend the BRICS summit.
Analysts argue that Morocco’s decision to reject South Africa’s invitation does not mean that the Kingdom has a negative position on the BRICS or the group’s members, as most of them have close relations with Morocco.
On the contrary, “Morocco can be considered the most capable among African countries to join the group and benefit from having a diversified and competitive economy,” stresses Muhammad Mamouni Alawi of Al-Arab, “Rabat will be able to attend the next BRICS meetings in any of the other four countries that make up the group (Brazil, Russia, India or China),” he adds.
Source : ATALAYAR
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