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Context: India has agreed to attend a virtual summit of leaders of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa grouping, likely to be held at the end of June.

More details:

• India hosted last year’s BRICS summit, which was also held virtually, and attended by the five leaders.
• This is the first summit hosted by China since the tensions broke out at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) due to the PLA’s transgressions in April 2020.
• Recently, BRICS health ministers held a virtual launch of the “BRICS Vaccine R&D Centre” to conduct “vaccine joint research, plant co-construction, authorised local production, and mutual recognition of standards”
• Trade options: Ahead of the summit, Sherpas of the five countries will meet virtually to discuss Ukraine conflict, financial mechanisms to deal with sanctions against Russia, and cooperation against the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Sanctions against Russia: BRICS Finance Ministers called for the use of national currencies for BRICS countries, integration of payment systems and cards, their own financial messaging system and the creation of an independent BRICS rating agency to effectively circumvent some of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union, which none of the BRICS countries have joined.
• Business with Beijing: India-China trade in 2021 reached $125 billion, crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time, driven by India’s imports of Chinese goods, most notably electronic products and chemicals, including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
• India had received 347 FDI proposals from neighbouring countries since April 2020, most are thought to be from China or China-linked firms.

What is BRICS? How did these countries come together?

• It is an informal group of statescomprising the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa.
• It is actually 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.
• At the Fortaleza Summit (2014), in Brazil, the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) were created
• Among other areas of collaboration, matters pertaining to drug trafficking are an important area of cooperation among the BRICS member states.

 

What challenges BRICS is facing?

• Disagreements between its members.
• Slow progress shown on the ground when it comes to the implementation of initiatives makes it quite vulnerable to criticism.
• The development trends of the BRICS nations are not very similar, as there is a huge difference in the economic structure of the member countries.
• The members also have differences over the UN Security Council (UNSC) reforms. It will be tough for the member countries to make a consensus on contemporary global issues.
• The burden of the NDB cannot be shared equally, as the size of the economy of each member varies with great magnitude. So, it is inevitable that disputes will arise in sharing the burden of NDB.

 

New Development Bank:

• It aims to mobilize resources for development projects in BRICS, emerging economies, and developing countries.
• It formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank.
• It is a multilateral development bankestablished by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
• It supports public or private projectsthrough loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.
• The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
• In September 2021, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguayjoined the NDB.
• In December 2021, the NDB admitted Egypt as new member.

 

BRICS- Agricultural Research Platform:

• It is a global platform for science-led agriculture.
• It will help in addressing the issues of world hunger, under nutrition, poverty and inequality by promoting sustainable agricultural development through strategic cooperation in agriculture and allied sector.
• It has been operationized to intensify cooperation in the areas of agricultural research technology, policy, innovations and capacity buildingincluding technologies for smallholder farming and to sustainably increase yields and farmers income in the BRICS member countries.
• The platform shall escalate the exchange of research findings and innovation and best practices for upscaling in the respective BRICS Nations.
• The BRICS Nations have also appointed their focal points for BRICS-ARP to interact virtually through the platform and identify the common problems and develop joint projects for finding the solutions.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Researchis the focal organization from India.

 

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, helped scientists and researchers to effectively exchange their findings to better facilitate a common response.
• It worked better than other global governance institutions amidst the ongoing COVID crises.
• There was no blame game or pointing fingers within BRICS, rather there is only a common vision for intensifying cooperation, including in sectors like healthcare, and social welfare.
• BRICS has progressed in developing a common position on the most important matters of the global economy and security.

 

Way Ahead:

• It is now important for the BRICS nations to engage in the grouping at the highest level to change the world order to counter the US supremacy.
• BRICS forum should be effectively utilized for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issues of mutual interest and to promote mutual understanding.
• The future of BRICS depends on the adjustment of the internal and external issues of India, China and Russia.
• Mutual communication between India, China and Russia is important for moving ahead

 https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/russia-sanctions-to-dominate-brics-summit/article65329397.ece