BRICS summit and its importance for India

Subject: International Relations

Section: International Groupings

Context: The 15th BRICS Summit will be hosted by South-Africa in Johannesburg.

More about 15th BRICS Summit:

The 15th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg,South-Africa.
The theme of the Summit is “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism”
This will be the first in-person summit since 2019 ,the COVID19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine.

What’s the big item on the agenda:

The main items on the agenda include attracting attention for their potential for a greater geopolitical consolidation of the grouping,and a plan to expand the membership of BRICS.
Over 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, and at least 19 have formally applied for membership such as Argentina, Mexico from Latin America; Nigeria, Algeria, from Africa; Saudi Arabia, UAE, from West Asia; Kazakhstan from Central Asia; Bangladesh and Afghanistan from South Asia.
The leaders are also expected to take forward earlier talks on intra BRICS trading in national currencies,

What is BRICS:

BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
The grouping was formalized during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers’ in
South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS

Some Facts about BRICS:

BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging economies from the world, comprising:
41% of the world population.
24% of the world GDP
Over 16% share in world trade.
Total combined area of 29.3% of the total land surface of the world

What are Few Initiatives of the BRICS:

New Development Bank:
During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (Brazil) in 2014, the leaders agreed to set up NDB.
The NDB became fully operational in 2016 with headquarters established in Shanghai.
Each member holds an equal amount of shares 20% in the NDB.
Contingent Reserve Arrangement:
In 2014, the BRICS governments had signed a treaty on the setting up of the contingent reserve arrangement
The arrangement is aimed at forestalling short-term balance of payments pressures, providing mutual support and strengthening financial stability of the BRICS nations.
BRICS Payment System:
BRICS countries are trying to create a payment system as an alternative to the SWIFT payment system.
This has taken on a new urgency as post Ukraine war, Russia has been frozen out of SWIFT.
Customs Agreements:
Customs agreement were signed to coordinate and ease trade transport between BRICS countries
Launched of Remote Sensing Satellite:
A Remote Sensing constellation of satellites has been launched – with 6 satellites including 2 from India, 2 from China, 1 from Russia, and 1 Brazil-China collaboration