BRICS Agriculture Ministers Meeting

On 27th August, 2021, 11th Meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers was held virtually. India is chairing the BRICS grouping for 2021.

Key Deliberations

  • The theme of the meeting was “BRICS Partnership for Strengthening Agro Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Security”.
  • BRICS Agriculture Research Platform (BARP): There is need to make the platform, developed by India, functional and encourage research cooperation to improve the use and application of agricultural technologies for meeting the needs of producers and processors.
  • The platform aims to promote cooperation in the areas of agricultural research, extension, technology transfer, training and capacity building.
  • The Action Plan of 2021-24 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries: It was adopted in the meeting, and provides for enhanced cooperation in the field of agriculture amongst BRICS nations and focuses on the themes of food security, welfare of farmers, conservation of agro-biodiversity, etc.

BRICS

BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

  • The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in July 2006.
  • South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.

Three Pillars of BRICS

  1. Political and Security
  2. Economic and Financial
  3. Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges

Importance of BRICS to India

  • The BRICS platform is the best opportunity for India to balance China-Russia axis.
  • BRICS community plays significant role in driving the agenda of G20.
  • It holds a common objective to reform the international monetary system to build a balanced international order.
  • It has also emerged as the voice of developing countries.

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