Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and is an association of these countries (All five are G-20 members.).
They have been identified as the fastest growing economies in the world. They are also seen as having large influence on regional affairs in their area.
Since 2009, the nations have held an annual summit every year. Originally known only as BRIC, the first summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009 when South Africa was not a part of the group.
On December 25 2010, South Africa was officially included with the BRIC members, and the acronym changed to BRICS.
The BRICS group has a bank called as the New Development Bank whose primary focus remains lending money for infrastructure development among the countries.
Relationships amongst the members are mainly on the basis of non-interference, equality and mutual benefit.
Recent Developments
The 10th BRICS Summit took place from 25th to 27th July, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The theme of the summit was-“BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution”.
Johannesburg Declaration was signed in this summit to reaffirm the principles of democracy, inclusiveness and agreed to fight unilateralism and protectionism.
On the sidelines of the 10th summit, BRICS-AFRICA Outreach was also held with the sub-theme of: “BRICS in Africa: Working towards the realization of the African Aspirations”.
