On 23 November 2025, the political figures of India, Brazil and South Africa met for a trilateral discussion strengthening the relations and the IBSA forum. In this meeting, multiple areas were discussed, such as national security, digital innovations, governance, climate and agricultural resilience. The platform focuses on amplifying interests and concerns related to the “Global South” on an international level. With the motive of sustainable development and democratic rights, important reforms were initiated under the IBSA forum. In this article, we will discuss the IBSA forum, its global influence, significance and the role to enhance the relationship of the three nations (India, Brazil and South Africa), thus, bolstering the trilateral alliance.
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Updates related to the IBSA Forum-
- On 23 November 2025, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, held an IBSA leaders’ meeting, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended to promote “South-South Cooperation” and enable joint development efforts.
- Organised on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the leaders called for urgent action, emphasising UN Security Council Reform and a united stand against terrorism and its double standards.
- In this meeting, India proposed initiatives on security, terrorism, climate change and cybersecurity.
- The ISBA funds are active, indicating continuation of development projects with alliance countries, and also, a proposal to set up a small IBSA secretariat and business council was introduced to improve continuity and economic operations.
What is the IBSA Forum?
IBSA stands for India, Brazil and South Africa. IBSA is an alliance of three large democratic countries, such as India, Brazil and South Africa, with similar goals and challenges from three different continents.
- The grouping was formed in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, on 6 June 2003, when the three foreign ministers of their respective countries joined hands to tackle similar issues and coordinate on joint projects. It was called the Brasilia Declaration.
- The first Head-of-State summit was held in Brazil on 13th September 2006. Till then, many meetings were held where discussions on overlapping agendas and geopolitical differences were sorted, development records, funding and reforms were introduced to strengthen the nations’ economies.
- There is no specific headquarters or secretariat of the trilateral alliance.
- India headed the IBSA Chair in 2021 under the theme “Democracy for Demography and Development”.
- Recently, South Africa has held the chair, and in November 2025, a meetup was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended by the three ministers.
Objectives of IBSA:
- Promote South-South cooperation and build consensus on international issues such as UNSC reform, climate change, terrorism, and multilateral governance.
- Increasing trade opportunities; exchange of information, technologies, and skills to leverage relative strengths.
- Advance poverty alleviation, social development, and equitable growth through trilateral projects and the IBSA Fund supporting health, education, and agriculture in developing countries.
- Improve coordination on global issues as a platform for three large multicultural democracies from Asia, South America, and Africa.
- Promote practical collaboration through working groups and people-to-people forums in areas such as energy, science & technology, and digital infrastructure.
Significance of IBSA-
- IBSA brings together countries from three different continents — Asia, Africa, and South America — with shared development challenges. It thus forms a powerful “Global South” grouping that can shape global governance and international norms.
- Through its Fund and development-project mechanism, IBSA provides a credible alternative to traditional “North-South” aid/cooperation models, emphasising peer-to-peer cooperation, capacity building, sustainable development, and social equity.
- IBSA allows the member countries to coordinate and speak with a united voice on global issues, which range from climate change to UN reform, trade policy to terrorism; this, in turn, enhances their bargaining strength on various international platforms.
- IBSA is flexible as there is no fixed secretariat, working group, and people-to-people components, and periodic summits provide it dynamism: to adapt to the changing global context, new challenges like the digital economy, climate resilience, AI and technology, and the emerging needs of the developing world.
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What Important initiatives were taken by India?
In the trilateral meeting, India introduced important initiatives fostering the reforms to benefit the three economies:
- Institutionalise NSA-level Dialogue: Among the three countries regularly, with a view to strengthening cooperation on security and counter-terrorism and eliminating double standards in combating terrorism.
- IBSA Fund for Climate Resilient Agriculture: Create a unique fund for sustainable practices by Global South farmers, leveraging the existing IBSA Trust Fund that has provided funding for projects related to health, education, and more in up to 40 countries.
- IBSA Digital Innovation Alliance: Create a platform for the sharing of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, including UPI payments, CoWIN health platforms, cybersecurity frameworks, and women-led tech initiatives, with a view to a possible launch at India’s AI Impact Summit in 2026.
Key Focus Areas of IBSA-
- Political Consultation and Coordination
Collaboration on global and regional political issues like UN Security Council reform, terrorism, climate change, and multilateral governance.
- Trilateral Collaboration on Projects
Multisectoral joint initiatives and working groups in the areas of agriculture, health, education, and social equity, among others, involve people-to-people engagement through forums and exchanges.
- South-South Cooperation in Development
Assisting in development projects in other developing countries through the IBSA Fund, which focuses on poverty alleviation, food security, and human rights.
- Economic and Trade Cooperation
Enhancing trade, investment, SMEs, agriculture and food processing, energy (including green energy), transport, and tourism with a view to eliminating non-tariff barriers.
- Science, Technology and Innovation
Scientific research cooperation, digital public infrastructure, including UPI and CoWIN of India, cybersecurity, AI, space tech, and e-governance.
- Emerging Priorities (2025)
Climate-resilient agriculture, democratic governance, digital innovation alliances, and counter-terrorism/security cooperation
Challenges of the IBSA Dialogue Forum-
Here are some challenges the three nations may face while implementing new reforms:
- Lack of Permanent Secretariat: As IBSA does not have a permanent secretariat, institutional memory is weak, follow-up of projects is slow, and implementation is less effective across the three countries.
- Low Economic Integration: Intra-IBSA trade remains low because of logistical bottlenecks, regulatory hurdles, and limited supply chain complementarities that hinder economic cooperation.
- Divergent Geopolitical Priorities: Variations in foreign policy orientations, oscillation of priorities in the case of Brazil, internal challenges within South Africa, and strategic accumulation for India tend to create limited strategic convergence.
- Domestic Political and Economic Challenges: At times, political instability and issues of an economic nature in member countries divert attention from trilateral cooperation.
- Competing Larger Blocs: Their relevance and distinctiveness in global diplomacy are sometimes shadowed by larger groupings, such as BRICS and G20.
- Limited Impact on Global Affairs: IBSA has sporadically succeeded in influencing global governance or major diplomatic initiatives, while the respective joint actions are often limited and less ambitious than expected.