BRICS Summit 2023: Who Are Sherpas And Why Are They Appointed?

Dammu Ravi, the secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, is India's Sherpa for the 15th BRICS summit.

New Delhi: All eyes are on the first in-person summit of BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is attending the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, said the event will provide a useful opportunity for the bloc to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development. Ahead of the BRICS summit in South Africa, all sherpas of the bloc held a key meeting in February and discussed the action plan for the global event. Dammu Ravi, the secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, was appointed as India’s Sherpa for the 15th BRICS summit.

So what are Sherpas and why are they appointed for global summits like BRICS, G20, and others? Let us dive deep into the role of these representatives or diplomats appointed as Sherpas for international summits and their significance in such events.

BRICS Summit 2023: What Are Sherpas And What Role Do They Play

The name ‘Sherpa’ has been derived from ‘Sherpa people’ – who are ethnic groups from Nepal. For generations, these Sherpas lived in Nepal’s highest altitudes and served as guides and porters.

Sherpa is a representative of the head of government or state who looks into the preparation of global summits like G20, BRICS, and others. In the case of the BRICS Summit, the Sherpas are the main channel of communication among the bloc countries. Sherpas deliberate on the BRICS action plan and priorities of the group.

Sherpas do not have the authority to make any final decision but they are instrumental in pushing ideas forward and guiding the bloc. They generally discuss preparations and agendas of the BRICS summit for their respective countries.

An Indian delegation led by Dammu Ravi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) secretary of economic relations, attended the first BRICS Sherpas and Sous Sherpas meeting in Bela Bela, Limpopo province in South Africa in February this year and discussed the action plan of the bloc. All the other sherpas of the BRIC bloc – Brazil, Russia, and China – had attended the key meeting.

BRICS Summit 2023: Meet Dammu Ravi, India’s Sherpa

• Dammu Ravi joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1989. He served in Indian missions abroad in Mexico, Cuba, Brussels in various capacities from 1991 to 2001.
• Dammu Ravi served as Deputy Secretary/Director in the Ministry of External Affairs in West Europe and UN Divisions from 2001 to 2006.
• He also served as private secretary to minister of tourism and culture from March 2006 to May 2009.
• Ravi was Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs responsible for India’s relations with Latin America and Caribbean countries from October 2009 to December 2013.
• Dammu Ravi served in Ministry of Commerce as Joint Secretary from January 2014 to February 2020 where he handled India’s Trade Policy, including World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues such as trade disputes, NAMA, fisheries negotiations, trade policy review etc.
• Dammu Ravi was part of Indian delegation to WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi (MC X) in November 2015 and (MC XI) in Buenos Aires in December 2017. He also handled India’s trade and investment relations with regional groups such as G20, BRICS, Commonwealth, SCO, APEC, IORA, ASEM, UNCTAD, etc.
• Dammu Ravi was India’s chief negotiator in the mega regional free trade agreement ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)’.
• On return to Ministry of External Affairs in March 2020, he was appointed as Additional Secretary (COVID and Europe). Currently, he is Secretary (Economic Relations) in Ministry of External Affairs.
• Dammu Ravi holds a Masters’s Degree in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

BRICS Summit 2023: What India’s Sherpa Said

Dammu Ravi said India will soon be the third largest economy, adding that Africa was an important partner in the country’s emergence as an economic power. “India’s rise, as Prime Minister very clearly as envisaged and envisioned, will soon be the third largest country in the world. But you also need many partners to ensure that the rise is smooth and that rise is sustainable. And Africa becomes an important partner in the rise of India,” Ravi told ANI.

“Africa has many complementarities with the Indian economy and that is what Prime Minister Modi has always been emphasizing. India’s low-cost solutions can be useful for economic activity within Africa. And Prime Minister has also taken the global south agenda much further,” he added.

“The development dimension from the developing countries’ perspective, from the global south perspective, is capturing the imagination of the leadership around the world, not just BRICS, but also in the G20 and food security,” Dammu stated further.

The Sherpa informed further that there would be more than 50 African leaders at the summit and the event will offer a “great opportunity” for leaders of both Africa and Prime Minister Modi to exchange views and carry forward the process of taking the Africa Union into the G20.