Rio de Janeiro — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva extended a special welcome to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto as he opened the plenary session of the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday (July 6).

In his remarks, Lula offered a personal greeting to Prabowo, who was attending the BRICS forum for the first time as head of state of Indonesia, now a full member.

“I would like to extend a special welcome to President Prabowo Subianto, who is participating for the first time in the BRICS Summit as President of Indonesia,” Lula said before the assembled BRICS leaders.

Lula also invoked the spirit of the 1955 Asian-African Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, which stood firmly against the dominance of great powers.

“BRICS is a manifestation of the Bandung Non-Aligned Movement. BRICS carries forward the Bandung spirit,” Lula declared.

He explained that the founding of the United Nations marked the defeat of fascism and symbolized a collective hope for humanity. Lula further reminded the audience that most current BRICS members were among the original signatories of the UN Charter.

“Ten years after the UN was founded, the Bandung Conference rejected dividing the world into spheres of influence and championed a multipolar international order,” he noted.

Indonesia has been a full member of BRICS since January 1, 2025. This year’s summit provides a platform for BRICS leaders to discuss critical political and security challenges, including protracted conflicts in various regions, reforms of global governance frameworks, and the strengthening of multilateral cooperation.

Leaders are also expected to tackle economic and financial cooperation opportunities, as well as shared priorities in areas such as artificial intelligence governance, environmental action and climate policy, and global health.

In addition to Prabowo, several other leaders from newly admitted member states were in attendance, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed, and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi.

The presence of these new member state representatives complemented that of the founding nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.