Highlights:
- The 13th BRICS Summit will be conducted virtually due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
- India is hosting a BRICS Summit for the third time
- This year marks the 15th anniversary of the BRICS
According to sources, the 13th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Summit would be held on September 9 under the leadership of India.
After 2012 and 2016, India will host the BRICS Summit for the third time.
In answer to a query about whether the next meeting will address the Afghanistan issue Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “BRICS is an important platform for cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries. It is a positive stabilising constructive force in international affairs.”
Wang went on to say that BRICS member countries have a long history of communication and cooperation, as well as issuing statements on international and regional issues of mutual concern.
The 2020 BRICS summit was conducted in the middle of a covid pandemic under Russian leadership.
The meeting took place in November, and it was the first time since the Galwan Valley incident that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were on the same platform.
Earlier, during the 11th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting, new areas of cooperation emerged, including trade in professional services, genetic resources, and consumer protection in the context of e-commerce.
BRICS is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and the theme of the 13th summit is ‘BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus.’
As per the website for the 13th BRICS Summit, “It is a source of great pleasure that the BRICS have served as a beacon of multilateralism based on equality, mutual respect, and trust. The theme represents our commitment to strengthening the BRICS cooperation’s basic values of continuity, consolidation, and consensus.”
This year’s BRICS objectives for India include multilateral system reform and counter-terrorism cooperation.
