Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh attended a Meeting of Foreign Ministers of BRICS countries in Beijing, China on 18th and 19th June, 2017. Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was scheduled to attend this meeting but later cancelled it owing to health reasons.
Highlights of BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting:
The meeting was chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.Besides V K Singh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes also attended the meeting.
- During his address at the meeting, V K Singh urged the member countries not to differentiate between “good and bad” terrorists – in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
- He also urged for the expedition of the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations.
- V K Singh mentioned that BRICS Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism concluded its meeting in May 2017 and National Security Advisers of all the member countries will meet in July 2017.
- China mentioned that it opposes terror in all forms and said it is taking part in global initiatives against terror.
It is to be noted that BRICS Summit will be held in September 2017 in Xiamen, China, which will be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Quick Facts about BRICS:
Acronym BRICS, refers to five major emerging economies viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- Originally as per term ‘BRIC’ coined in 2001 by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O’Neill, South Africa was not a part of this grouping. It joined in 2010 and thereafter these countries have been collectively referred to as BRICS nations.
- BRICS nations represent about 40% of world’s population and account for nearly 22% of gross world product.
