IBSA is a trilateral, developmental initiative between India, Brazil and South Africa to promote South-South cooperation and exchange.

In the aftermath of discussions between the Heads of State/Government of the IBSA countries at the G-8 meeting that took place in Evian, France in 2003, and following ongoing trilateral consultations, the External Affairs Minister of India, Shri Yashwant Sinha, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Brazil, Celso Amorim and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma met in Brasilia on 6 June 2003.In this meeting, the launching of the IBSA Dialogue Forum was formalized through the adoption of the "Brasilia Declaration" .