Why in News?
- Recently, Prime Minister of India attended the 14th BRICS summit which was held virtually by China.
- The Theme of the 14th BRICS Summit was Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development.
- BRICS Plus virtual conference was also held as part of the main meeting with ministers from countries, involving the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Thailand.
Major Highlights of the Summit-
- Beijing Declaration- It affirms that BRICS supports talks between Russia and Ukraine.
- The grouping is willing to assist the United Nations’ and the International Committee of the Red Cross’s (ICRC) endeavours to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
- Countries also expressed concerns about the situation in Taliban held Afghanistan.
- Discussions on the Issues-
- Humanitarian Situation in Ukraine- Concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed their support to endeavours of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.
- Terrorism- During discussion on terrorism and terror cooperation, the BRICS countries said that only the UN Security council has the authority for imposing sanctions.
- On Afghanistan, BRICS countries called for “Afghanistan authorities to attain national reconciliation through dialogue and negotiation, and to set up a broad-based and inclusive and representative political structure”, adding that Afghan territory must not be used to shelter terrorists or attack any other country.
- Initiative on Denial of Safe Haven to Corruption- The BRICS Initiative on Denial of Safe Haven to Corruption targets to further reinforce anti-corruption capacity building through education and training programs and improve anti-corruption exchanges and cooperation within multilateral frameworks.
- Framework for Consumer Protection in E-commerce- The declaration welcomed the formation of the Digital Economy Working Group by upgrading the E-commerce Working Group.
- The BRICS nations have agreed to encourage consumer protection in e-commerce by advancing the implementation of BRICS Framework for Consumer Protection in E-commerce.
- More Focus on Combating Trans-national Drug Trafficking- The summit also expressed concern over the serious drug situation in the world. BRICS declaration applaud BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group’s active role in combating transnational drug trafficking and encouraging global drug governance and will further reinforce drug control cooperation.
About BRICS- BRICS is an an association of the world’s five major leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
- The British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC In 2001, to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
- In 2006, the grouping was formalised during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers’.
- In December 2010, South Africa was invited to join BRIC, after which the group assumed the acronym BRICS.
- The BRICS brings together 05 of the largest developing countries of the world and representing 41% of the global population, 24% of the global GDP and 16% of the global trade.
- The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, according to the acronym B-R-I-C-S. India is the chair for 2021.
- Initiatives of the BRICS-
- New Development Bank– During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (Brazil) in 2014, the leaders signed the Agreement setting up the New Development Bank (NDB – Shanghai, China).
- It has till now approved 70 infrastructure and sustainable development projects worth.
- Contingent Reserve Arrangement- The BRICS governments had signed a treaty on the creation of the contingent reserve arrangement in 2014.
- The arrangement is aimed at forestalling short-term balance of payments pressures, supply mutual support and reinforce financial stability of the BRICS nations.
- BRICS Payment System- BRICS countries are trying to build a payment system as an alternative to the SWIFT payment system.
- This has taken on a new urgency as post Ukraine war, Russia has been frozen out of SWIFT.
- Customs Agreements- Customs agreement were signed to coordinate and facilitate trade transport between BRICS countries
- Launched of Remote Sensing Satellite- A Remote Sensing constellation of satellites has been launched – with 06 satellites comprising 02 from India, 02 from China, 01 from Russia, and 01 Brazil-China collaboration.