BRICS member blocked invite to development dialogue in China: Pak

Without naming the country, Pakistan on Monday claimed that its invitation to a development dialogue held in China on June 24 was blocked by a BRICS member.

In response to media queries about the "High-level Dialogue on Global Development", held virtually on the sidelines of the BRICS meetings, a Foreign Office spokesperson said that Pakistan is fully committed to taking bilateral and multilateral cooperation to new heights, Geo News reported.

According to the spokesperson, a number of developing and emerging economies were invited to the high-level dialogue on global development.

As the host country, China was engaged with Pakistan prior to the BRICS meetings, where decisions are made after consultations with all the members, including invitations to non-members.

"Regrettably, one member blocked Pakistan from participating," Geo News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

According to sources, India blocked Pakistan from participating at the BRICS summit.

"We hope that the organisation's future engagement will be based on principles of inclusivity, with the overall interests of the developing world in mind, and free of narrow geopolitical considerations," the spokesperson said.

He said Pakistan values China's role in advancing the interests of developing countries, adding that Islamabad, along with Beijing, has been a strong advocate for global peace, shared prosperity, and inclusive development.