Pakistan irked over BRICS meeting snub, says one member 'blocked participation'

Pakistan has expressed its regret about not getting invited to the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development (HLDGD) which concluded last week in Beijing, media reports said on Monday.

The event that was hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping saw the participation of several countries including India. Russian President Putin also attended it.

Xi Jinping chaired the dialogue of 19 countries and addressed it via a video link concluded on Friday. He delivered a speech titled "Forging High-quality Partnership for a New Era of Global Development."

However, Pakistan remained absent from the meeting, the Dawn newspaper reported.

"Regrettably one member blocked Pakistan's participation," the Pakistan Foreign Office said in response to media queries over the matter, without naming the country. According to Dawn, it is believed India blocked Pakistan's participation at the forum.

On Monday, Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said that a member of the BRICS "blocked Pakistan's participation" in a dialogue for non-member states held virtually on the sidelines of the event.

"We do hope that future engagement of the organisation 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," Pakistan FO was quoted as saying by Dawn.

"We appreciate China's role in promoting the interests of developing countries. Together with China, Pakistan has been a strong voice for global peace, shared prosperity and inclusive development. Pakistan is the current chair of G77+China and also part of group of friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI)," the Pakistani spokesperson added.

A group consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa brings together five of the largest developing countries in the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

Last week, the leaders of all participating nations exchanged views on such major issues as strengthening international development cooperation and accelerating the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

They discussed ways to promote development cooperation and reached important common understandings.

( With inputs from ANI )

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