All eyes on China as BRICS meets today amid ‘lab-leak’ theory

As the BRICS (a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) foreign ministers gear up to discuss the Covid-19 crisis and ways to come out of it, all eyes will be set on China which is said to be upset over various study reports saying that Chinese scientists created the coronavirus in a lab in Wuhan. What has angered the Dragon all the more is a probe ordered by US President Joe Biden to “find out whether the coronavirus resulted from a lab accident in China”.

That no powerful nation has come on record as of today to dismiss the Wuhan lab-leak theory has also enraged the Dragon further. With the BRICS foreign ministers’ Covid meet being held in this charged atmosphere, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s remarks during the parley will be keenly watched for. Sources said that Biden is himself interested in what happens in the BRICS meet which is being hosted by India as the chair of the grouping this year. The US Embassy has been asked to keep a tab over what comments Chinese minister makes during the exercise.

“President Biden directed his intelligence agencies to take another look at whether the coronavirus resulted from a lab accident in China.” MEA sources believe what the Dragon is breathing fire over is that this kind of probe has brought the conspiracy theory about the virus’s origin back under the world’s focus.

Indian diplomats do agree that Beijing is also not happy with Delhi where it is being put in the dock over the virus leak theory, with international studies being widely reported by the media. It is in this backdrop that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be participating in this virtual BRICS Ministerial meeting. The event assumes significance from this point of view.    

The agenda of the meeting is solely issues related to tackling Covid and counter-terrorism. Bilateral issues including LAC dispute between India and China are also not on the agenda. No one-to-one will be there between Indian and Chinese foreign ministers, with the meeting being held on a virtual platform.

But sources say that Chinese foreign minister might refer to the “lab-leak theory” diplomatically. There is no denying that the communist leadership in Beijing is finding it difficult to counter this theory which has brought embarrassment to the entire country. With this in view, what remains to be seen is how Wang Yi reacts during the meet. MEA issued a statement on the agenda saying, “The ministers are expected to exchange views on the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the need for strengthening and reforming the Multilateral System with a view to enhancing its capacity to effectively address the diverse challenges of our time and to adapt them to contemporary realities, on global and regional issues of concern, sustainable development, countering terrorism besides discussing ways to enhance intra-BRICS cooperation, especially people-to-people cooperation.” BRICS will also discuss India’s proposal to set up a consortium to tackle post-Covid-19 health challenges and tackling non-communicable diseases, among other issues.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Ambassador Carlos Alberto Franco França, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi, and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, are to participate in the meeting.

The ministers will also set the course for the BRICS summit to be held later this year, either in person or virtually, which will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.