18 June, 2018

BRICS: A Decade of Socio-Economic Cooperation

Dr. Arundhati Sharma*

Introduction

BRICS is a grouping of the five emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa. Mooted in the year 2001 by Goldman Sachs, these five emerging countries from
different regions of the world are increasingly seen as the centre of global power transition.i
Coinciding with the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008-9 the main aim of the grouping is to
foster cooperation, policy coordination and political dialogue regarding international
economic and financial matters. However, and since its inception, the BRICS has expanded its
activities, particularly in conducting regular meetings of the group, coordinating positions in
international organisation and the development of an agenda for multi-sectoral cooperation
among its members. The group was consolidated with the first Summit at the Heads of the
State level in 2009. Thereafter, the group continued to meet once every year to discuss varied
issues of global importance.

As the BRICS prepares to enter its tenth year with the BRICS Summit on July 25-27,
2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the paper attempts to look into the major areas of BRICS
socio-economic cooperation since its inception. In the process, a comparative analysis of the
Summit Level declarations has been undertaken to take a stock of the progress in terms of the
commitments as well as implementation on important issues.

Genesis and Significance: From BRIC to BRICS

The acronym BRIC(S) was first mooted by Jim O’ Neill of Goldman Sachs to represent Brazil,
Russia, India and China in the year 2001 while projecting that the economies of Brazil, Russia,
India and China would individually and collectively occupy far greater economic space and
would be amongst the world’s largest economies in the next 50 years or so.ii However, the
group met for the first time after the meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China in St.
Petersburg on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in 2006. The group became formalised
during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) in New York in 2006. Thereafter, the 1st BRIC Summit was held in
Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009. The group expanded to include South Africa at the BRIC
Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010. Accordingly, South Africa
attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China in April 2011.iii

BRICS Members

Source: NDB Annual Report, 2016.

Together these five emerging economies of BRICS represent over 40% of the world
population, more than 30% of the world GDP and 17% share in the world trade.iv The group
started essentially as a platform for discussion of economic issues of mutual interests.
However, the agenda of BRICS has considerably expanded in it scope over the years to
encompass important global issues. BRICS cooperation is embedded on two pillars –
consultation on issues of mutual interest through meetings of Leaders as well as of Ministers
of Finance, Trade, Health, S&T, Education, Agriculture, Communication, Labour, etc. and
practical cooperation in a number of areas through meetings of Working Groups/Senior
Officials.v

According to statistics of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the participation of

BRICS in global exports more than doubled between 2001 and 2011, from 8% to 16%. In these
years, their total exports have grown more than 500%, while total global exports grew 195% in
the same period. Between 2002 and 2012, intra-BRICS trade increased 922%, from US$ 27
billion to US$ 276 billion, while between 2010 and 2012, BRICS international trade rose 29%,
from US$ 4.7 trillion to US$ 6.1 trillion dollars.vi
BRICS Summits: An Analysis of Socio-Economic Cooperation

So far nine BRICS Summits have taken place. First BRICS Summit was held in Yekaterinburg,
Russia on June 16, 2009; the second in Brasilia, Brazil on April 16, 2010; the third in Sanya,
China on April 14, 2011; fourth in New Delhi, India on March 29, 2012; the fifth in Durban,
South Africa on October 26-27, 2013; sixth in Fortaleza, Brazil, July 14-16, 2014; seventh in Ufa,
Russia on July 8-9, 2015; eighth BRICS Summit was hosted by India during its Chairmanship
on October 5-6, 2016; and the ninth summit was held in Xiamen, China on September 3-5,
2017.

Over the years, BRICS cooperation has expanded in its scope in terms of its meetings,
number of stakeholders and agenda. It has now come to include an annual programme of over
100 sectoral meetings encompassing three levels of interaction, involving formal diplomatic
engagement between the national governments, engagement through government-affiliated
institutions, e.g. state-owned enterprises and business councils and civil society and “people-
to-people” engagement. In terms of its agenda, the engagement is now multi-sectoral.

Table 1 below indicates the areas of cooperation among BRICS countries, which has
been underlined in various summit declarations, including health, education, science and
technology, agriculture and economic and financial cooperation. All these areas have come to
be incorporated under the umbrella of Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership adopted in
2015. The progress in each of these areas since its first summit in 2009 has been tardy. The
only concrete progress can be seen in the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB)
and Contingent Reserve Arrangements (CRA). On agriculture, the coordinating centre of the
BRICS Agricultural Research Platform was set up in April, 2017. The most recent development
is seen in the establishment of the NDB Africa Regional Centre (ARC) in August, 2017. On
other issues like health, education and science and technology, progress has been modest.

To strengthen and enhance intra-BRICS cooperation, the Strategy for BRICS Economic
Partnership was adopted during the Ufa Summit in July 2015. It has come to encompass all
areas of cooperation including trade and investment, manufacturing and mineral processing,
energy, agricultural cooperation, science, technology and innovation, financial cooperation,
connectivity, ICT cooperation and coordination in multilateral and regional organisations. In
these three years since its adoption, BRICS has increasingly endeavoured to institutionalise its
cooperation at different levels on the different areas identified under the BRICS partnership.
In this direction, various seminars, workshops, and meetings are being conducted on regular
basis.vii

Since it very existence, the leaders of BRICS has been committed to coordinate
positions in improving global governance to foster a more just and equitable international
order. The leaders have consistently reiterated their commitments to advance reform of
international economic and financial institutions so as to reflect the changes in world
economy, particularly providing greater voice and representation to the developing countries
in these institutions. To this end, BRICS has succeeded in bringing incremental changes in the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the years. The joint efforts of BRICS culminated in
the 2010 Reform Proposal on Quota and Governance. Subsequently, the quota of the IMF was
doubled, with a total 6% share transferred to the emerging and developing countries. The
votes of China, Russia, Brazil, and India was increased and reached a total of 14.18%.viii

They have also reiterated their commitments for a comprehensive reform of the
United Nations (UN) to make it more efficient, along with extending support to the
aspirations of India and Brazil to play a greater role in the system. However, there is no direct
reference of extending support to the expansion of the permanent membership of the UN
Security Council (UNSC). It is reflective of the intransigent positions of Russia and China to
reform the UNSC. This belies prospects for substantial reform because reforming the UNSC
requires an affirmative vote and domestic ratification by two-thirds of UN member states,
including all of the Security Council’s permanent members (the P5, consisting of China,
France, the United Kingdom, the USA and Russia), which have consistently opposed any
measures at expanding the permanent membership.ix

The leaders have recognised the primacy of G20 as an important player and as a forum
for international economic coordination and cooperation among all its member states. At the
G20 Summits, BRICS is seen as an influential player in shaping macroeconomic policies. In
this direction, BRICS is working towards strengthening international taxation policy,
including base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), exchange of tax information, tax capacity-
building of developing countries and tax policies to promote growth and tax certainty. To this
end, members have committed to strengthen cooperation and coordination through the
existing mechanisms, including the BRICS Heads of Revenue Meeting. For instance, at the 4th
Meeting of BRICS Heads of Revenue held in December 2016, and which was hosted by India,
leaders reached consensus to strengthen the BRICS tax cooperation, and all members agreed
to implement the G20’s consensus on tax governance and help the developing countries to
improve their taxation capacity. In July 2017, during the 5th Meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax
Authorities in Hangzhou the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the BRICS tax
authorities was signed.x

The BRICS leaders have also reaffirmed their support for an open, inclusive, non-
discriminatory, transparent and rule based multilateral trading system with continued efforts
to the effective conclusion of the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO)
negotiations. At the WTO, BRICS countries have cooperated as part of different coalitions
such as G20 and G33 to influence the ongoing Doha Round of negotiations. The importance of
implementing the decisions taken at the Bali and Nairobi Ministerial Conferences as well as
the need to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha Development Agenda (DDA) issues
as a matter of priority has been stressed in the declarations, including the Xiamen
Declaration.xi

On education, BRICS Network University (BRICS-NU), aimed at engaging 12

universities from each of the five countries in education research and innovation, is an
important initiative. Under this, there are five areas of cooperation which have been
prioritised. These include communication and IT, economics, climate change, water resources
and pollution, and BRICS study.xii In terms of progress, during the meeting of International
Governing Board (IGB) of BRICS-NU and meetings of International Thematic Group (ITGs) of
BRICS-NU held in Zhengzhou, China on July 1-3, 2017, the participating countries signed the
regulation for the IGB and the statutes for the ITGs, thus completing the structure of the
BRICS-NU.xiii Additionally, the BRICS University League has been conceived in 2013 to
encourage participation of universities from the five countries. The leaders at the 8th BRICS
Summit held in 2017 reiterated their support for BRICS University League and BRICS Network
University in conducting education and research cooperation. They also welcomed the
formulation of a BRICS action plan to advance practical cultural cooperation and the
establishment of the BRICS Alliance of Libraries, Alliance of Museums, Alliance of Art
Museums and National Galleries as well as Alliance of Theatres for Children and Young
People.xiv

On agriculture, the establishment of the Coordinating Centre of the Agriculture

Research Platform in August 2017 at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in
New Delhi can be seen as an important achievement of BRICS. The Centre is expected to
facilitate multilateral interaction for sharing knowledge and acquiring overall experience and
exposure to the latest research, technology, policy, innovations, extension and technology
transfer, training and capacity building. This will help to address various challenges, including
climate change, sustainable utilisation of resources, managing new pests, pathogen and
invasive plants, promoting value addition for producing safe and nutritive food and food
products, avoiding wastage and knowledge sharing among BRICS countries.xv

Building BRICS Institutional Mechanisms

As has been mentioned, the most tangible achievement of BRICS is the establishment of
institutional mechanisms. Conceived in the 2012 BRICS Leaders’ Summit, the NDB and the
CRA became operational in 2015. After several rounds of negotiations and Finance Ministers’
meetings, the leaders signed the agreement for the establishment of the BRICS NDB as well as
CRA worth US$ 100 billion each during the sixth BRICS Leaders Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil in
July 2014.

Table A: Total Capital of NDB and CRA (billion)

Contingent Reserve Total Capital New Development Total Capital

Arrangement ($100 billion) Bank (NDB) ($100 billion)

(BRICS)

Country Capital Country Capital

China USD 41 billion China USD 20 billion

India USD 18 billion India USD 20 billion

Brazil USD 18 billion Brazil USD 20 billion

Russia USD 18 billion Russia USD 20 billion

South Africa USD 5 billion South Africa USD 20 billion

Source: http://brics.itamaraty.gov.br/media2/press-releases/220-treaty-for-the-establishment-of-a-
brics-contingent-reserve-arrangement-fortaleza-july-15 and http://brics.itamaraty.gov.br/agreements
(accessed on August 17, 2017)
 Decision-making in NDB is defined in Article 6 of the Agreement establishing the bank
which states that all matters before the Bank shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes
cast. Article 6 reads, xvi

“Except as otherwise specifically provided for in this Agreement, all matters before the Bank shall
be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast. Where provided for in this Agreement, a
qualified majority shall be understood as an affirmative vote of two thirds of the total voting
power of the members. Where provided for in this Agreement, a special majority shall be
understood as an affirmative vote of four of the founding members concurrent with an
affirmative vote of two thirds of the total voting power of the members.”

As far as CRA is concerned, decision-making is defined at two levels: the Governing

Council and the Standing Committee. Article 3 of the CRA Treaty provides that decisions at
the level of the Governing Council will take place by consensus. Among its responsibilities, the
council has the authority to review and alter the size of the pool and its components, and to
approve changes to access limits, multipliers, interest rates, maturity periods, preconditions
and sanctions. At the Standing Committee Level, there is a weighted voting system at the level
of the Standing Committee for decisions related to requests for support. Other decisions are to
be taken by consensus. The weighting system is explained in Article 3(e) which underscores
that while 5% of voting power is equally spread among participants; the distribution of the
remaining 95% depends on the value of each participant’s commitment to the CRA. Article 3
emphasises, however, that ‘[a]s a matter of principle, the Standing Committee shall strive for
consensus on all matters’xvii

NDB, headquartered in Shanghai, has been established with the purpose of mobilising
resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other
emerging and developing countries. However, the projects approved so far have not been
extended to non-members countries and are concentrated in the BRICS member countries
(Table B). In the three years of its operation, substantive progress can be seen in the
implementation of the projects under NDB. Until 2016, the main focus of the bank was
renewable energy. However, it has now diversified to include water supply, sanitation,
irrigation, agriculture and others. Till 2016, NDB has approved and invested in 7 projects
worth US$ 1.5 billion.xviii Out of the seven, six were renewable energy projects. Six projects
aggregating over US$ 1.8 billion were approved by the Board in 2017. The total amount
approved since inception was $ 3.4 billion as at the end of 2017, including US $900 billion
which were appraised but were not put up for Board consideration (Table B). xix The 14th
Meeting of the NDB Board of Directors (BoD) in May 28-29, 2018, approved six projects from
all five member countries of the NDB with loans aggregating US$ 1.6 billion. These include
Petrobras Environmental Protection Project (Brazil) (US$ 200 million), Development of Water
Supply and Sanitation Systems Project (Russia) (US$ 320 million), Small Historic Cities
Development Project (Russia) (US$ 220 million), Bihar Rural Roads Project (India) (US$ 350
million), Chongqing Small Cities Sustainable Development Project (China) (US$ 300 million),
and Durban Container Terminal Berth Reconstruction Project (South Africa) (US$ 200
million).xx

NDB is also working in collaboration with the established multilateral and regional
financial institutions for global growth and development. The bank has signed MoUs with
other multilateral and regional banks like European Bank of Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), World Bank, International Development
Association (IDA) and International Finance Cooperation (IFC), Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB).xxi

The CRA has been set up to facilitate short-term liquidity pressures, promote BRICS
cooperation, strengthen the global financial safety net and complement existing international
arrangements. It intends to provide liquidity through currency swaps in response to actual or
potential short-term balance of payments crisis.xxii As per the treaty establishing the CRA, the
currency swaps can be accessed by the ‘Parties’ i.e. BRICS member countries through their
central banks.xxiii Towards this end, the BRICS Central Banks have also established the CRA
System of Exchange in Macroeconomic Information (SEMI) and are further working to
strengthen the research capabilities of the CRA.xxiv

Table B: Different Projects approved by NDB (million)

Projects Loan Amount Borrower Guarantor Target Sector

Projects Approved in 2016

Canara (India) US$ 259 mn Canara Government Renewable Energy

Bank of India (wind, solar etc.)

Liangang US$ 81 mn PRC - Renewable Energy

(China) Government (solar rooftop PV)

BNDES (Brazil) US$ 300 mn BNDES - Renewable Energy

(wind, solar etc.)

ESKOM (South US$180 mn ESKOM Government Renewable Energy

Africa) of RSA (transmission)

EDB/IIB US$100 mn EDB/IIB - Renewable Energy

(Russia) (hydro-power &
green energy)

Madhya US$350 mn Government - Upgrading major

Pradesh (India) of India districts
(infrastructure)

Pinghai (China) US$ 298 mn PRC - Renewable Energy

Government (wind)

Projects Approved in 2017

Hunan (China) RMB 2 bn (US$ PRC - Water, sanitation

300 m) Government and flood control,
environment

Jiangxi (China) US$ 200 m PRC - Energy

Government conservation

MP Water US$ 470 m Government - Water supply and

sanitation, rural
(India) of India development

Judicial US$ 460 m Government - Social

Support of Russian infrastructure
(Russia) Federation

Rajasthan US$ 345 m Government - Irrigation,

Water (India) of India Agriculture

Ufa Eastern US$ 68.8 m Government - Transportation

Exit (Russia) of Russian
Federation

Source: New Development Bank.

Africa Regional Centre of the New Development Bank

NDB Africa Regional Centre (ARC), launched on August 17, 2017, intends to contribute to
sustainable infrastructure development in South Africa and act as a useful participant in the
development agenda of the continent. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ARC of the
New Development Bank, Johannesburg, South Africa, President K. V. Kamath said,

“The establishment of the ARC, which is the first regional office of the NDB, is an important
milestone for the Bank. It marks the fulfilment of a commitment made by the founders of the
Bank in its Articles of Agreement.…The ARC will be the face of the NDB in Africa”.xxv

One of the major role of ARC’s will be to identify sustainable infrastructure and sustainable
development projects in South Africa in line with South Africa’s National Development Plan
adopted by the Government as a blueprint for future economic and socio-economic
development strategy for the country. These projects will receive financial support from NDB.
In this regard, the NDB members have agreed to lend $1.5 billion to South Africa for
infrastructure projects over the next eighteen months, and have tasked the ARC to make sure
that the amount is used in actual lending project.xxvi

India and BRICS

As a member of the grouping India’s role in the BRICS is significant, particularly in institution
building. Noteworthy, the proposal to establish a BRICS Bank, NDB, was put forward at the 4 th
Summit by India in New Delhi in March 2012. The main idea was to set up a BRICS-led South-
South Development Bank, mainly funded and managed by BRICS countries to recycle
surpluses into investment in developing countries for infrastructure and sustainable
development projects.xxvii At the Plenary session of the 7th BRICS Summit in July 2015, India
proposed the creation of the BRICS Agriculture Research Centre. xxviii The Coordinating Centre
of the Agriculture Research Centre was finally launched at the NASC, New Delhi in August
2017.

India is pushing for the creation of BRICS Credit Rating Agency with an aim to solve
impediments for the emerging market economies posed by the present credit rating agency
market that is dominated by western rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch,
which hold over 90 per cent of the sovereign ratings market.xxix So far, a Memorandum of
Cooperation (MoC) among BRICS Export Credit and Insurance Agencies - Brazilian
Guarantees Agency, OJSC (Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance),
China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, P.R. China (SINOSURE), Export Credit
Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd, India (ECGC) and Export Credit Insurance Corporation of
South Africa Ltd, South Africa (ECIC) – has been signed in July 2014. These agencies have
agreed to cooperate on projects, consultations and sharing of information. xxx

Additionally, India has taken the first initiative in holding several BRICS meetings and
other BRICS related events, and thereby helping to regularise such processes. Subsequently,
most of these meetings and other initiatives are being organised every year by the country
hosting the Heads of the State Summit. For instance, India hosted the first BRICS Academic
Forum meeting in New Delhi in May 2009 prior to the first BRIC Summit held in
Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. These meetings, which act as preparatory meetings to the
BRICS Summit, generate ideas and recommendations that form part of the Summit agenda.
Since the 2010 Summit these meetings are held every year, preceding the meeting of the Heads
of State, and organised by the country that hosts the Leaders’ Summit.xxxi To strengthen intra-
BRICS cooperation, India further proposed important initiatives at the 6th BRICS Summit in
Brazil in July 2014 including a virtual BRICS university. xxxii The first BRICS Young Scientist
Conclave under the framework of the BRICS Young Scientist Forum was held in India in
September, 2016. The first BRICS Trade Fair and Exhibition, proposed by India in the BRICS
Business Council, Ufa, 2015, was held in October 2016 to exhibit the state-of-the-art
technologies and advances made in industrial development.xxxiii India coordinated the first
meeting of BRICS Science and Technology Driven Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Partnership in April 9, 2017.xxxiv
Table 1: BRICS Cooperation on Socio-Economic Issues: A Review

1st BRIC 2nd BRIC 3rd BRICS 4th BRICS 5th BRICS 6th BRICS 7th BRICS 8th BRICS 9th Summit -
Summit - 16 Summit - 16 Summit - 14 Summit - 29 Summit – Summit - Summit – 8- Summit ˗5-16 3-5
June 2009 in April 2010 in April 2011 in March 2012 26-27 March 14–16 July 9 July 2015 October 2016 September,
Russia Brazil China in India 2013 in 2014 in in Russia in India 2017 in
(Yekaterinbur (Brasilia (Sanya) (New Delhi) South Brazil (Ufa) (Goa) China
g) Africa (Fortaleza) (Xiamen)
(Durban)

Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership

Health Education Science & Agriculture Global CRA NDB Others Africa
Technology Governance Regional
centre

Meeting BRICS UNIDO- MoU for The $100 In 2016 BRICS

targets of 90- Network BRICS Establishme billion approved Roadmap for
90-90 HIV University Technology nt of BRICS Consistent BRICS seven Trade, Establishme
treatment by (BRICS-NU) Platform Agricultural reiteration Contingent projects in all Economic nt of NDB
2020 Research of Reserve member and Africa
Platformxli commitment Arrangeme states, for a Investment Regional
s to advance nt (CRA) total of over cooperation, Centre in
BRICS reform of South Africa
has become USD 1.5 2020.
Health Network international on August 17,
fully billion in the
ministers from University economic, 2017 in
operational areas of
Brazil, Russian (BRICS-NU) financial and Johannesburg
Since its BRICS following renewable
Federation, was first security- The main , South
official Agricultural the and green
India, China mooted in related target areas Africa.xlv
launch in Research inaugural energy, and
and South March 2015 institutions of the
September Platform meetings of transportatio
Africa (BRICS) and was so as to Roadmap are:
2016, the aims to the BRICS n.
adopted the scheduled to reflect the Energy and
UNIDO promote food CRA Board
UNAIDS Fast- be launched in changes in environmental
project security, of Governors
Track strategy 2016.xxxvii world protection;
“Promote the sustainable and the
to end the development agricultural economy, Standing Six projects manufacturing
AIDS epidemic of SMEs development particularly Committee aggregating and mining
as a global During the between and poverty providing in the over US$ 1.8 industry;
health threat meeting of China and alleviation greater voice Turkish billion were mechanical
by 2030 during International other BRICS through and capital of approved by engineering,;
the Health Governing Countries strategic representati Ankara in the Board in agriculture;
Ministers Board (IGB) of through e- cooperation on in the September 2017 transport and
meeting on 4 BRICS-NU commerce in agriculture international 2015.xliii logistics; High-
to 5 December and meetings development” among the financial tech
2014.xxxv The 7th of (or in short member institutions manufacturing,
Health International “UNIDO countries. information
Thematic Agreed to
Minister BRICS SMEs and
Group (ITGs) the
Meeting in E-commerce communicatio
of BRICS-NU Reiteration establishme
Tianjin on July project”) has ns
held in The of the nt of CRA
6, 2017 started to technologies;
Zhengzhou, Coordinatin primacy of System of
reiterated their devise Science and
China on July g Centre of G20 as an Exchange in
commitments cooperation technology,
1-3, 2017, the the BRICS* important Macro-
for collective mechanisms human
participating player and as economic
actions and to develop Agricultural resources
countries a forum for Information
sustained SMEs Research development;
signed the international (SEMI)
leadership to through e- Platform was Insurance and
Regulation for economic
fully commerce, inaugurated rating activity;
the IGB and coordination
implement the including on April 16, and
the statutes and
2016 UN consultation 2017 by Dr. T. Elimination of
for the ITGs, cooperation
Political workshops Mohapatra, excessive
thus among all of
Declaration to and meetings Secretary administrative
completing its member
achieve the 90- in BRICS (DARE) & barriers
the structure states.
90-90 targets Member Director (deregulation).
and Ending of the BRICS- States.xl xliv
General,
AIDS by NU.
ICAR, at
2030.xxxvi NASC
Complex,
International New Delhi as
Governing a follow up of Commitmen
Board the t to
(IGB) is the Memorandu conclude the
main m of IMF’s 15th
governing Understandin General
body of the g signed Review of
BRICS during the Quotas,
Network 8th BRICS including a
University, Summit -2016 new quota
responsible for in India, by formula, by
the activities, the Ministries the 2019
development of Agriculture Spring
and of Brazil, Meetings
assessment of Russian and no later
the outcomes Federation, than the
of the BRICS- Republic of 2019 Annual
NU. The India, Peoples Meetings
Board consists Republic of
of the China and
representative Republic of
s of the South
national Africa.xlii
ministries of
education and
of the
community of
the university
participants of
the BRICS NU.
Each country
is represented
in the BRICS-
NU IGB by
three
members,
atleast one
each from
National
Education
Ministry and
BRICS-NU
participants.
xxxviii

International
Thematic
Groups
(ITGs) help
coordination
of activities
among BRICS-
NU
participants in
the priority
fields: energy,
computer
science and
Information
security,
BRICS Studies,
ecology,
climate
change, water
resources, and
pollution
 treatment,
and
economics.xxxix

Establishmen BRICS BRICS STI Deepening First green

t of BRICS University Framework cooperation bond for
network on League Programme on RMB 3.0
TB Research* (BRICSUL) – selection addressing billion (USD
of BRICS Base 450 million)
research Erosion issued in July
and and Profit 2016.
The idea was
developmen Shifting
floated at the
t projects (BEPS),
First WHO
underway. promoting
Global
exchange of
Ministerial
tax
Conference on
information
Ending TB in The second
and
The call for
improving
Sustainable projects
capacity-
Development launched in
building in
Era: A August 2017
developing
Multisectoral
countries
Response, held
in Moscow, 16-
17 November
2017. Moscow
Delration
adopted at the
end of teh
conference
called upon
WHO to
‘consider
developing a
Global Strategy
for TB
Research
taking into
consideration
ongoing and
new efforts,
such as the TB
Research
Network stated
in the BRICS
Leaders
Xiamen
Declaration’xlvi

The 5th BRICS BRICS NDB signed BRICS

Education Global Memoranda Business
Ministers Advanced of Council (BBC)
Meeting Infrastructu Understandi
(EMM) took re Network ng with
place in (BRICS- multilateral
Bilateral
Beijing, China GRAIN)* and national
Social
on July 5, 2017. development
Security with
It was banks,
BRICS nations
preceded by a including
was discussed
BRICS Senior World Bank
at the
Officials and Asian
meetings of
Meeting on Development
the BRICS
Education on Bank as well
Labour &
July 4, 2017. as leading
Employment
Beijing commercial
Declaration on banks from Ministers held
Education was the NDB on June 9, 2016
signed during member in Geneva and
the BRICS states.xlviii on September
Education 27-28, 2016 in
Ministers New Delhi
Meeting.xlvii respectively.

As a follow up
to the Goa
Declaration,
the Ministry of
External
Affairs, India
has sent
communicatio
ns to the
relevant
authorities in
all BRICS
nations for
commencing
negotiations
on the social
security
agreements.
Brazil has
responded
favourably.xlix
 Eventually,
Bilateral Social
Security
Agreement
between India
and Brazil
concluded on
March 16, 2017.l

Agreed to the Explore the Establishment

establishment establishmen of BRICS E-
of the BRICS t of BRICS Port Network
Alliance of Institute of and BRICS E-
Libraries, Future Commerce
Alliance of Networks* Working
Museums, Group
Alliance of Art
Museums and
National
In the Xiamen
Galleries and
Summit, 2017
Alliance of
Terms of
Theatres for
Reference
Children and
(ToR) of
Young People.
BRICS E-Port
Network and
BRICS E-
Commerce
Working
BRICS Group was
Research and adopted.
Exchange
 Fund*

In the Xiamen
Summit, 2017,
the leaders
agreed to
explore the
development
of BRICS Local
currency
Bond Markets
and BRICS
Local
Currency
Fund. *

Source: Compiled by the author from various resources.

Notes: *No detailed information on the progress is available

Conclusion

The summit level analysis shows growing intra-BRICS cooperation to contribute to global
stability, development and cooperation in a positive manner. Established at a time of global
recession, the BRICS has expanded its spheres of cooperation, becoming a platform of
dialogue and coordination for the promotion of global governance reform as well as multi-
sectoral engagement. In the nine summits held so far, BRICS has not only coordinated in
various multilateral and plurilateral initiatives but also has expanded its intra-BRICS
cooperation to encompass new areas to facilitate market linkages, financial integration,
infrastructure connectivity and people-to- people contacts. It is also evident that the grouping
has been an important force for the incremental change and reform of the global governance,
including the reform of IMF to make it more representative and inclusive. The main focus of
the first five summits of BRICS was to consolidate its positions in the international economic
and financial issues to foster strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Starting from the sixth
summit in 2014, BRICS has come to play a significant role in promoting social development
particularly addressing poverty and inequality.

In terms of progress, the main achievement of BRICS can be seen in the building of
institutional mechanisms, including NDB, CRA and ARC. In this process of institutionalising,
the role of India is notable, particularly in the development of NDB. India has also facilitated
further institutionalisation of the forum by organising various meetings, workshops and other
related events.

It is seen that BRICS has evolved to be recognised as an important grouping. However

there remains certain area which needs to be prioritised for the group to maintain its
relevance. First, the world economy is witnessing increasing trends towards protectionism
inducing fear of ‘trade wars’ among countries. In such a fluid situation, BRICS needs to work
jointly to expedite the implementation of the commitments at different summits, particularly
upholding an open and inclusive global economy with its edifice of non-discrimination,
transparency and rule-based multilateral trade system.

Second, there is a need to equally stress on the reform of the UNSC permanent
membership, along with the reform of other economic and financial institutions in achieving
its mandate of an equitable international order in the true spirit. While there is a greater stress
on reform of international financial institutions – IMF and the World Bank - since BRICS
emerged as a grouping to address some of the challenges in the global governance processes
during the GFC, the reform of UN, particularly the expansion of permanent membership in
UNSC finds no direct reference in the declarations.

Overall, there should be sustained effort by the BRICS countries to maintain a united
stand on several issues of socio-economic importance, including the reform of the global
governance for greater representation of the developing countries, agriculture, science and
technology, education and health, and further coordinate positions on several international
fora, including the WTO, G20 and others, particularly to arrest the rising tide of
protectionism.

****

19 | www.icwa.in
*Dr. Arundhati Sharma is a Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are that of the Researcher and not of the Council.

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