11th BRICS Summit

• 15 Nov 2019

Why in News

The 11^th BRICS Summit took place from 13^th-14^th November 2019 in Brasilia, Brazil. The theme of the 2019 BRICS summit is "Economic Growth for an Innovative Future.”

• BRICS countries adopted the Brasilia Declaration.

Brasilia Declaration

• It advocates and supports multilateralism, the central role of the U.N. in international affairs and respect for international law.
• Reforming Multilateral Systems: There is an urgent need to strengthen and reform the United Nations and other multilateral organisations, including the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to address the significant challenges being faced by the developing countries.
• Support to Multilateralism: The trade war between China and the U.S. and rising protectionism is hurting the global economy. Multilateralism is crucial for emerging countries to protect their own interests.

India’s Stand at the Summit

• Intra-BRICS trade accounts for just 15% of world trade, it needs to be increased. India invited business leaders of the member nations for investment, particularly in infrastructure development.
• India proposed to hold the first meeting of BRICS Water Ministers in India.
• India highlighted the menace of terrorism which has resulted in the loss of $1 trillion to the world economy.

BRICS

• BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
  
  • In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
  • The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers in 2006.
  • South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
• It comprises 42% of the world's population, has 23% of the global GDP and around 17% of the world trade.
• The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S. Brazil is the current chair of the grouping.
• The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is convened annually.
• During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014) the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB). They also signed the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

Meetings on the sidelines of the Summit

• India - Brazil
  
  • India invited the President of Brazil as the Chief Guest at the Republic Day 2020.
  • Brazil has decided to grant visa-free travel to Indian citizens.
• India - China
  
  • The Chinese President invited the Indian Prime Minister for the 3^rd informal summit in China in 2020. The first informal summit took place at Wuhan (China-2018) and second at Mamallapuram (India-2019).
  • Both the leaders reviewed preparations for celebrating the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2020.
• India - Russia
  • 1^st Bilateral Regional Forum at the level of Russian Provinces and the Indian States will be held in 2020.
  • India has been invited for investment in the Arctic region. The US $ 25 billion target of bilateral trade by 2025 has already been achieved.

Source: TH