Joint Statement On Multilateralism: BRICS:
The BRICS Foreign Ministers, in a recent meet, put out a joint statement on multilateralism.
- BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Multilateralism:
- It is the process of organizing relations between groups of three or more states.
- It generally comprises certain qualitative elements or principles that shape the character of the arrangement or institution.
- These principles are:
- Indivisibility of interests among participants.
- Commitment to diffuse reciprocity, i.e. mutual exchange.
- System of dispute settlement intended to enforce a particular mode of behaviour.
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 formalised during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers’ in 2006.
- South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
- India has assumed the BRICS Presidency from January 2021.
