HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 11th BRICS SUMMIT 2019

The Annual BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit has recently been organized from 13^th to 14^th November, 2019 in Brazil, where Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Leaders Dialogue and discussed about the following ways to bring about innovation in development of various sectors and to strengthen economic cooperation amongst the BRICS nations and other emerging economies:

1. BRICS Business Council and New Development Bank

The partnership between two institutions, namely, BRICS Business Council, which aims at promoting and strengthening business, trade and investment ties amongst the BRICS countries, and New Development Bank (NBD), which aims at mobilizing resources for infrastructure and development projects in BRICS and other developing countries, aims at achieving the $500 Billion Intra-BRICS trade target by the next summit in 2020. Further, PM Shri Modi has requested cooperation from the said institutions and BRICS countries to build a disaster resilient infrastructure and to set up a regional office of NBD in India, in order to strengthen BRICS economic cooperation.

2. India-Russia bilateral trade

PM Shri Modi and Mr Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, further discussed and reviewed the progress made by both countries in the field of infrastructure, defence, civil nuclear energy, and the potential cooperation prospects in the field of oil and natural gas. The two Leaders also decided to organize the 1^st Bilateral Regional Forum in Russia or India next year to reduce the trade barriers at regional level.

3. India-Brazil strategic partnership

PM Shri Modi and H.E. Mr. Jair Messias Bolsonaro, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, discussed about the areas for potential investment from Brazil, including agricultural equipment, animal husbandry, post-harvest technologies and biofuels, space and defence sectors, visa free travel to Indian citizens, etc.

4. Mutual cooperation in the fields of fitness and health, water management, sanitation, counter-terrorism and such others

PM Shri Modi highlighted the increased importance for mutual cooperation in the field of trade and investment, fitness and health, sustainable water management and sanitation, better travel and work conditions, security cooperation against terrorism and other organized crimes including terrorist financing, use of internet for terrorism purpose, etc.

Thus, the aforesaid cooperation efforts have been aimed at enhancing global economic growth by identifying various areas of cooperation and business opportunities.

Harini Daliparthy

Senior Legal Associate

The Indian Lawyer