[Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa]
The Fourth BRICS Summit was hosted in New Delhi on 29 March 2012 under the overarching theme of “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity.” The Summit has imparted further momentum to the BRICS process.
BRICS, is a unique Grouping with shared opportunities and common challenges. Formalized with the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2006, in a short span of time, the Grouping has come a long way and has evolved a number of mechanisms for consultation and cooperation in a number of sectors. South Africa joined the Grouping at the third Summit in Sanya, China in April 2011.
The agenda of BRICS meetings has considerably widened over the years to encompass topical global challenges such as international terrorism, WMDs, climate change, food and energy security, MDGs, international economic and financial situation, etc. Four BRICS Summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers, Finance Ministers, Agriculture Ministers, Health Ministers, High Representatives on Security and other sectoral meetings have helped further deepening of cooperation amongst BRICS countries.
The Delhi Declaration, capturing the essence of discussion as well as putting forth common position of BRICS countries on various economic and political issues of global and regional importance was issued at the end of the Summit. The Declaration included Delhi Action Plan which highlights the activities to be undertaken under India’s chairmanship of BRICS to further cooperation. Two agreements namely- “Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currencies” and “BRICS Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement”- were signed by the Development Banks from BRICS countries. The Leaders also released “The BRICS Report” focusing on synergies and complementarities between the BRICS economies and highlighting their role as growth drivers of the world economy. An updated edition of BRICS Statistical Publication was also issued at the occasion.