Vladimir Putin to hold BRICS online-conference on November 17

President of Russia Vladimir Putin under the country’s BRICS Chairmanship 2020 will host Head of States of Brazil, China, India and South Africa via video conference on 17 November, Trinity Mirror reports. The meeting was originally planned to take place in St. Petersburg in July but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

BRICS leaders will focus on significant and complicated issues or questions relating to geopolitical to socio-economic spheres and transformations of the global landscape in the 21st century. The meeting will also adopt a working document that will further reinforce the position and development of the group.

Russia has agreed to strengthen and promote strategic partnership in all key areas of BRICS activities, such as politics and security, economy and finance, educational and cultural ties. The theme of the Meeting of the Leaders of BRICS is “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth.” The member countries will discuss the enhancement of their countries’ trade and economic collaboration as well as coordination on international stages or platforms. Russia, in fact, plans to end its chairmanship with a strong set of new agreements, including the already agreed upon BRICS Anti-Terrorism Strategy and the updated Strategy for Economic Partnership 2025. This document defines guidelines and priorities for cooperation and gives a new impetus to development of trade and investment cooperation among the five countries.

Despite the current global situation due to the spread of the coronavirus infection, the activities under the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2020 have been carried out in a consistent manner. Since January 2020, a number of events have already been organized, including via videoconferencing.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that deepening the strategic partnership in BRICS is one of Russia’s foreign policy priorities.

As stipulated by the guidelines, Russia took over the rotating presidency of the BRICS from Brazil. Since its establishment, BRICS has come a long way from an informal forum for exchanging views on current issues on the international agenda to an absolutely mature and stable network of multilateral interactions on diverse issues of international and domestic interest involving the five BRICS countries.

The BRICS is known as an influential bloc that represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world’s population. The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of $ 16.6 trillion. BRICS has grown into multilateral structure forum and become an organisation pursuing fair, democratic and multipolar world order.

Over the past decade, the BRICS group (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) has proved to be a relevant and well-respected format of cooperation. The BRICS countries maintain solidarity in strengthening collective principles in global affairs; they advocate respect for the sovereignty and sovereign equality of all states, and are deeply convinced that conflicts should be resolved only through peaceful means. The BRICS is an influential bloc that collectively defends the principles of a more just world order based on respect for norms and principles of International Laws and the United Nations Charter.



Photo: kremlin.ru