Fourth BRICS Summit begins in Capital

NEW DELHI: The 4th

BRICS Summit got underway

here today. The Summit

of the fi ve countries Brazil,

Russia, India, China and

South Africa is being held

here for the fi rst time.

The Summit has started

with a Restricted Session

of consultations amongst

the leaders, which will be

followed by a Plenary Session,

after which, the Leaders

would attend the signing

of two agreements among

the BRICS Development

Banks, and then release the

BRICS Report focusing on

synergies and complementarities

of the member countries.

The fi ve emerging economies

are likely to sign an

important agreement for extending

cross-country credit

in local currencies of member

nations. Chinese President

Hu Jintao, President

Dmitri Medvedev of Russia,

President Dilma Rousseff

of Brazil and South African

President Jacob Zuma arrived

in the Capital yesterday.

Ahead of the Summit,

Trade Ministers of the

BRICS countries met yesterday

to discuss and consider

inter-governmental cooperation

to boost intra-BRICS

trade. They reviewed the

global economic situation

and noted with concern the

continuing diffi culty faced

by many countries and underscored

the need for greater

policy coordination in the

interest of global economic

stability.

The Summit is being held

at a time when Brazil, Russia,

India, China, South Africa

were emerging as new

growth poles in a multi-polar

world, having played a vital

role that helped the world

economy emerge from the

shadows of the global economic

crisis. The conclave,

taking place ahead of the

G20 meeting in Mexico, is

expected to result in several

important decisions pertaining

to coordination among

the member countries on

several economic, fi nancial

and political issues facing

the world.

The situation in Iran,

Syria and the Eurozone crisis

are expected to be top

on the agenda of the Summit,

whose presidency goes

to India for this year. This

will be followed by Leaders’

statements to the media.

The Summit will conclude

with a luncheon hosted by

Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh in honour of the other

BRICS Leaders. The Prime

Minister will also hold bilateral

consultations with each

of the visiting BRICS Leaders

after the Summit.

A BRICS Delhi Declaration

summing up BRICS

leaders’ deliberations and articulating

their shared positions

of contemporary issues

of mutual interest will be issued

at the end of the Summit.

The Member countries

institutionalised their grouping

in September 2006, at

the initiative of Russia, with

a foreign ministerial meeting

of the four countries in New

York on the sidelines of the

UNGA.

The BRICS grouping took

shape with the fi rst Summit

held in Yekaterinburg in 2009, followed by Brazilia

in 2010. The third Summit

was held at Sanya(China)

last year when South Africa

joined the group as the fi fth

Member to form BRICS. At

the focus of the fi rst Summit

in Yekaterinburg, and the

second in Brasilia mainly

the international fi nancial

and economic situation and

reform of the international

fi nancial institutions.

The central role of the G-20 and the role that the

BRICS could play in this

apex body were considered

and emphasised, along with

reform of the global political

and economic governance

architecture that meets

the interests and developmental

needs of emerging

market economies and developing

countries. Sanya

continued and elaborated

on these themes, still of

high relevance, but also

introduced paragraphs on

emerging political issues in

North Africa, and a more

elaborate plan of action for

intra-BRICS cooperation.

The Fourth Summit is

taking place at a time the

world is grappling with the

challenges of ensuring a

sustained recovery from the

global slowdown, complicated

by developments in

the Eurozone, and bringing

global growth back on track.

The Summit follows the

Durban Conference on Climate

Change last December,

and precedes another

important UN Conference

on Sustainable Development

(Rio+20) in June this

year and the Conference of

Parties to the Convention on

Biological Diversity in Hyderabad

in October as well,

the three conferences on

interconnected themes, all

hosted by BRICS members.