The virtual summit was chaired by a Indian Prime Minister and was dominated by the developments in Afghanistan
Key highlights of the summit
The summit adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.
The document, titled the New Delhi Declaration was unveiled which called for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and urged the need to uphold rights of women, children and minorities.
It called for an “inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue” to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country.
The agreement on Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation was signed between BRICS countries’ space agencies.
What is BRICS?
BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Headquarters: Shanghai, China
The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is convened annually.
The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
Together, BRICS accounts for about 40% of the world’s population and about 30% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), making it a critical economic engine.
Objectives:
To deepen, broaden and intensify cooperation for more sustainable, equitable and mutually beneficial development.
To ensure relations are built on the respective country’s economic strengths and to avoid competition where possible.
Components of financial architecture of the BRICS:
New Development Bank: NDB’s key areas of operation are clean energy, transport infrastructure, irrigation, sustainable urban development and economic cooperation among the member countries.
Contingent Reserve Arrangement: It aims to provide short-term liquidity support to the members through currency swaps to help mitigate the BOP crisis situation and further strengthen financial stability.
