GS PAPER II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora - their structure, mandate.

Context: BRICS meeting deliberated on emerging issues in Biotechnology and Biomedicine.
What is BRICS? How did these countries come together?
• It is an informal group of states comprising the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa.
• The BRICS is actually rather a forum than a traditional-type organization with rigid membership and regulations.
• Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
• The growing economic might of BRICS countries, their significance as one of the main driving forces of global economic development, their substantial population and abundant natural resources form the foundation of their influence on the international scene and are the driving forces behind the grouping.
• At the Fortaleza Summit (2014), in Brazil, important institutions were created: the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).
• Among other areas of collaboration, matters pertaining to drug trafficking is an important area of cooperation among the BRICS member states.

What challenges BRICS is facing?
• Disagreements between its members and slow progress shown on the ground when it comes to implementation of initiatives make it quite vulnerable to criticism.
BRICS and COVID-19:
• Most of its programs and mechanisms proved to be effective during the pandemic.
• The BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Framework Programme pioneered in 2015 helped scientists and researchers to stay connected and effectively exchange their findings to better facilitate a common response to COVID-19.
• BRICS looks better than other global governance institutions amidst the ongoing COVID crises.
• There is no blame-game or pointing fingers within BRICS, rather there is only a common vision for intensifying cooperation, including in sectors like healthcare, social welfare.
• BRICS has progressed on developing a common position on the most important matters of the global economy and security and also got institutionalised with the setting up of the BRICS New Development Bank in 2015.

What can be done?
• The pandemic has highlighted that the five countries need to pay more attention to speeding up the practical implementation of the projects and decisions that are being agreed on.
• There is going to be very serious lack of money as all the countries in the BRICS are going to be economically affected because of COVID.
• BRICS should focus on what is achievable, making sure it uses the crises time to find a common vision, lack of which has always been one its weaknesses.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1722175

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