IPCI Info

BRICS

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09 Oct

The seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. It was held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development. The seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. It was held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development.

The summit was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dilma Rousseff, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Jacob Zuma president of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa respectively.

At the end of the summit, Ufa Declaration was released by the leaders that called for enhanced coordinated efforts in responding to emerging challenges, ensuring peace and security, promoting development in a sustainable way among the member countries.

Besides the BRICS summit level meeting, the leaders held a summit with the members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

In a five-year summit cycle, the summit is hosted by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in the order. While the 6th BRICS summit was held at Fortaleza in Brazil in 2014, New Delhi will be hosting the 8th summit in 2016.

Head of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations on 9 July 2015 released the Ufa Declaration. The declaration was released after the 7th BRICS summit held in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan from 8 to 9 July 2015. 7th BRICS Summit was held under the theme ‘BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development’.

The Ufa declaration saw the support for India to host the Eighth BRICS Summit in 2016.

Main highlights

  • Ufa declaration saw the resolve of the BRICS nations to step coordinated efforts in responding to emerging challenges, ensuring peace and security, promoting development in a sustainable way.
  • Highlighting the need to reform UN Security Council (UNSC), China and Russia supported Brazil, India and South Africa aspiration to play a greater role in the UN
  • Expressing the disappointment over United States failure to ratifyIMF 2010 reform package,the BRICS nations called the US to ratify it by mid-September 2015. The IMF 2010 reform package called for increase in the institution’s quota resources and the revision of quotas and voting power in favour of developing countries and emerging markets.
  • Welcoming Kenya’s hosting of the10th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10)in Nairobi on 15-18 December 2015, the member nations for working together to strengthen an open, transparent, non-discriminatory, and rules-based multilateral trading system as embodied in the WTO.
  • In the economic sphere, BRICS nations expressed support for the development of action-oriented economic cooperation and systematic strengthening of economic partnership for the recovery of global economy and resisting protectionism.
  • BRICS financial institutions, viz.,Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), New Development Bank (NDB)that was established during 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza was ratified
  • BRICS Inter-Central Bank Agreementthat sets technical parameters of operations within the BRICS CRA was signed.
  • Adoption of Strategy for theBRICS Economic Partnershipto foster trade, economic and investment cooperation between BRICS nations. In this regard, the ministers/sherpas were asked to develop a roadmap for the period until 2020.
  • Looking forward to the sixth session of theConference of State Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)to be held in St. Petersburg in November 2015, the BRICS members decided to create a BRICS Working Group on Anti-Corruption Cooperation.
  • MoU on the Creation of theJoint BRICS Websiteamong our Foreign Ministries was signed 
  • Recognising the urgent need to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of Information, Communication and Technology (ICTs), BRICS nations decided to constitute aBRICS working group on ICT cooperation.
  • First meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Labour and Employment will be held in February 2016, which will focus on the creation of decent jobs and information sharing on labour and employment issues.

10 Steps for the Future proposed by PM Narendra Modi for BRICS countries:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 July 2015 proposed a 10 point initiative named as ‘Dus Kadam: 10 Steps for the Future’ to boost cooperation within the members of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). He proposed the initiative while addressing the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia.

The 10 steps of the proposed Dus Kadam are: 

1.BRICS Trade Fair (to be held during India’s chairmanship in 2016).

2.BRICS Railway Research Centre.

3.Cooperation among Supreme Audit Institutions.

4.BRICS Digital Initiative.

5.BRICS Agricultural Research Centre.

6.BRICS state/Local Government’s Forum.

7.Cooperation among cities in field of Urbanisation.

8.BRICS Sports Council and Annual BRICS Sports Meet.

9.First Major Project of NDB to be in field of Clean Energy.

10.BRICS Film Festival.

India will be hosting the Eighth BRICS Summit in 2016.