The acronym of the group of emerging economies is soon going to change. As BRICS is about to welcome a new member. Saudi Arabia prepares to potentially join the BRICS. The impact on its economy and the global landscape could be monumental. A geopolitical move can transform Saudi Arabia's economy and reshape global power dynamics.

Will BRICS membership prove to be a game-changer for Saudi Arabia’s economy?

Several nations are knocking on the door of the BRICS. The BRICS group of nations are preparing to hold the proposed annual summit in South Africa. Meanwhile, nineteen countries have expressed an interest so far in joining the bloc. Thirteen countries have formally asked to join and another six have asked informally. The BRICS bloc consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The member nations will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to discuss its expansion.

Will BRICS invite more members as 19 nations, including Saudi Arabia & Iran, show interest?

South Africa has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be attending the upcoming BRICS summit in person later this year. In an exclusive interview to WION's Sidhant Sibal, South Africa's sherpa Anil Sooklal said that the leaders of all the BRICS nations have accepted their invite.

Vladimir Putin to visit South Africa in August, latter says 'invite accepted' | WION Pulse

While Russia and China took turns in bashing western countries, India reaffirmed its neutrality at the BRICS summit. Will these political differences make BRICS ineffective? What are China's plans for this bloc? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: India reaffirms neutrality at BRICS summit

The leaders of the BRICS nations are meeting as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took center stage at the summit lauding BRIC nation's role in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

14th BRICS Summit: Russia trying to forge closer ties with Asia

<p>With Russia, which invaded Ukraine, and India, with which China had a border clash in attendance, President Xi Jinping warned against "expanding military" alliances. Jinping was speaking at the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday (June 22) ahead of the BRICS virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa.&nbsp;</p>

<p>His comments came amid talk of more countries like Sweden and Finland seeking to join NATO, and as India, the US, Japan and Australia expanding cooperation under Quad, which Chinese circles derisively refer to as Asian NATO.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As per the Chinese state media, Xi told the BRICS Business Forum that the "Ukraine crisis is... a wake-up call" and warned against "expanding military alliances and seeking one's own security at the expense of other countries' security".&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Chinese President is set to host the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing on June 23. Hua Chunying, who is the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said that the summit will be held in virtual format. Chunying further noted that the theme of the event is to foster a high-quality partnership for better global development.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/i-plan-on-having-a-conversation-with-president-xi-says-biden-over-tariffs-on-chinese-goods-490445">I plan on having a conversation with President Xi, says Biden over tariffs on Chinese goods</a></strong></p>

<p>The summit will also allow the Russian President Vladimir Putin to be back on the world stage amid the Ukraine war, for which Moscow has been criticised by the West. After announcing the invasion of Ukraine in February this year, this will be Putin's first time attending a forum with the heads of major economies. Russia calls the invasion "special military operations".&nbsp;</p>

<p>BRICS consists of emerging economies China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa - which account for more than 40 per cent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world's gross domestic product.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war and BRICS, three countries (China, India and South Africa) have abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WATCH |&nbsp;Why is Kaliningrad at center of row between Russia and Lithuania?</strong></p>

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<p>In a call, last week Xi assured Putin that China would support Moscow's core interests in "sovereignty and security".&nbsp;</p>

<p>Xi also took a swipe at the US and European Union sanctions on Russia in the speech on Wednesday, saying "sanctions are a boomerang and a double-edged sword".&nbsp;</p>

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With Russia, which invaded Ukraine, and India, with which China had a border clash in attendance, President Xi Jinping warned against "expanding military" alliances.

With Russia, which invaded Ukraine, and India, with which China had a border clash in attendance, President Xi Jinping warned against "expanding military" alliances. Jinping was speaking at the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday (June 22) ahead of the BRICS virtual summit with top leaders from Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa. His comments came amid talk of more countries like Sweden and Finland seeking to join NATO, and as India, the US, Japan and Australia expanding cooperation under Quad, which Chinese circles derisively refer to as Asian NATO. As per the Chinese state media, Xi told the BRICS Business Forum that the "Ukraine crisis is... a wake-up call" and warned against "expanding military alliances and seeking one's own security at the expense of other countries' security". The Chinese President is set to host the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing on June 23. Hua Chunying, who is the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said that the summit will be held in virtual format. Chunying further noted that the theme of the event is to foster a high-quality partnership for better global development. ALSO READ | I plan on having a conversation with President Xi, says Biden over tariffs on Chinese goods The summit will also allow the Russian President Vladimir Putin to be back on the world stage amid the Ukraine war, for which Moscow has been criticised by the West. After announcing the invasion of Ukraine in February this year, this will be Putin's first time attending a forum with the heads of major economies. Russia calls the invasion "special military operations". BRICS consists of emerging economies China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa - which account for more than 40 per cent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world's gross domestic product. When it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war and BRICS, three countries (China, India and South Africa) have abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. WATCH | Why is Kaliningrad at center of row between Russia and Lithuania? × In a call, last week Xi assured Putin that China would support Moscow's core interests in "sovereignty and security". Xi also took a swipe at the US and European Union sanctions on Russia in the speech on Wednesday, saying "sanctions are a boomerang and a double-edged sword". WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Ukraine crisis is a wakeup call': Xi Jinping warns against 'expanding military alliances'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 13th annual summit of BRICS leaders via video conferencing. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the US for the Afghanistan crisis in the meeting.

BRICS Summit 2021: Russian President Vladimir Putin blames US for Afghanistan crisis

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the BRICS summit today. In a joint statement, the BRICS leaders said that Afghan territory should not be used to carry out attacks against other countries. Can the BRICS come together to tame the potential terror threat from Afghanistan? Palki Sharma brings you a report.

Gravitas: BRICS nations back India's views on the situation in Afghanistan

BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are all set to hold their 13th summit today. Indian PM Narendra Modi will chair the 13th BRICS Summit in a virtual format. Brazil President Jair Bolsanaro, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be attending the meeting. Afghanistan crisis to dominate 13th BRICS summit talks.

Afghanistan crisis to dominate 13th BRICS summit talks

The BRICS countries are all set to hold the 13th summit today. As Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa gear up for the annual event it is believed that the crisis in Afghanistan is going to dominate the summit.

BRICS Summit 2021: Grouping to focus on Afghanistan's 'Humanitarian Crisis'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 13th BRICS summit via video conferencing along with Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs 13th BRICS summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired the 13th annual summit of BRICS leaders via video conferencing. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the meeting.

13th BRICS Summit: Leaders cover Afghanistan crisis, pandemic in speech

<p>The 13th BRICS summit under the chairmanship of India will take place on September 9 virtually.</p>

<p>Leaders of all five&nbsp;BRICS member countries, India's PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will take part in the meet.</p>

<p>This is the third time that India will be hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016. More than 50 meetings have already taken place under India's chairmanship this year which includes the Foreign Ministers virtual meet on June 1.</p>

<p>During the summit and the various meetings, the focus has been on dealing with the COVID crisis, supporting TRIPS waiver for COVID 19 vaccines at WTO backed by South Africa-India who proposed it, counter-terror, reforms at multilateral groupings especially at the UN Security Council.</p>

<p>In terms of the Agenda under the Indian Presidency, August will see several meetings. These are the Meeting of National Security Advisors on&nbsp;August 24, the Meeting of the Heads of the Space Agencies on August 18, meeting of Agriculture and environment ministers on&nbsp; August 27.</p>

<p>Additionally, BRICS Youth Summit will take place from August 29-31 and Digital Health Summit from August&nbsp;24-26.</p>

<p>During the BRICS National Security Advisors meeting, BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan will be adopted that was finalized at the groups' working group meet that took place last month. BRICS or Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa grouping is a major grouping with considerable global economic output.</p>

<p>The 2020 BRICS summit was also virtual amid the covid pandemic under the chairmanship of Russia. The summit took place in November and it was the first time that India PM and the Chinese President were on the same platform amid the aggressive action by Chinese forces at the line of actual control in eastern Ladakh. The aggressive action by the Chinese army had led to the Galwan incident in which India lost 20 of its soldiers.</p>

<p>September will also see another major summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO heads of state summit on September 16-17 in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe. Tajikistan is chair of the grouping which has 8 member states--Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and 4 central Asian countries--Tajikistan, &nbsp;Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.</p>

<p>Additionally, September also will see the annual start of the United Nations General Assembly, the 76th session. It is expected to take place in a hybrid mode. The President-elect of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly is Maldives Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid. During the UNGA elections, he got a whopping 143 votes in the 193 strong body. 97 votes are the threshold for winning the elections.</p>

<p>The tenure of the post is one year and is a prestigious one due to authority over the working of the General Assembly. India had strongly backed the candidature of Abdulla. This is the first time that a Maldives National is heading the presidentship of the UN body. His Chef du Cabinet is India's deputy Ambassador to United Nations Nagaraj Naidu. Another first, with an Indian diplomat holding that post that is like the chief of staff or like in the Indian system PM's Principal Secretary.</p>


The 13th BRICS summit under the chairmanship of India will take place on September 9 virtually. Leaders of all five BRICS member countries, India's PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will take part in the meet.

The 13th BRICS summit under the chairmanship of India will take place on September 9 virtually. Leaders of all five BRICS member countries, India's PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will take part in the meet. This is the third time that India will be hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016. More than 50 meetings have already taken place under India's chairmanship this year which includes the Foreign Ministers virtual meet on June 1. During the summit and the various meetings, the focus has been on dealing with the COVID crisis, supporting TRIPS waiver for COVID 19 vaccines at WTO backed by South Africa-India who proposed it, counter-terror, reforms at multilateral groupings especially at the UN Security Council. In terms of the Agenda under the Indian Presidency, August will see several meetings. These are the Meeting of National Security Advisors on August 24, the Meeting of the Heads of the Space Agencies on August 18, meeting of Agriculture and environment ministers on August 27. Additionally, BRICS Youth Summit will take place from August 29-31 and Digital Health Summit from August 24-26. During the BRICS National Security Advisors meeting, BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan will be adopted that was finalized at the groups' working group meet that took place last month. BRICS or Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa grouping is a major grouping with considerable global economic output. The 2020 BRICS summit was also virtual amid the covid pandemic under the chairmanship of Russia. The summit took place in November and it was the first time that India PM and the Chinese President were on the same platform amid the aggressive action by Chinese forces at the line of actual control in eastern Ladakh. The aggressive action by the Chinese army had led to the Galwan incident in which India lost 20 of its soldiers. September will also see another major summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO heads of state summit on September 16-17 in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe. Tajikistan is chair of the grouping which has 8 member states--Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and 4 central Asian countries--Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, September also will see the annual start of the United Nations General Assembly, the 76th session. It is expected to take place in a hybrid mode. The President-elect of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly is Maldives Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid. During the UNGA elections, he got a whopping 143 votes in the 193 strong body. 97 votes are the threshold for winning the elections. The tenure of the post is one year and is a prestigious one due to authority over the working of the General Assembly. India had strongly backed the candidature of Abdulla. This is the first time that a Maldives National is heading the presidentship of the UN body. His Chef du Cabinet is India's deputy Ambassador to United Nations Nagaraj Naidu. Another first, with an Indian diplomat holding that post that is like the chief of staff or like in the Indian system PM's Principal Secretary.

BRICS summit under India's chairmanship to be held on September 9

<p>The BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, on Thursday, reaffirmed their fundamental commitment to mutual respect and share the goal of building a peaceful, stable and a prosperous world.</p>

<p>The document presents a shared vision of the BRICS nations on such issues as a reform of the system of international relations, strengthening of international financial and economic architecture, future cooperation between the five countries.</p>

<p>"Building on the work of successive summits in the pillars of economy, peace and security and people-to-people exchanges, we will continue to strengthen BRICS cooperation for the benefit and welfare of our peoples and enhance the traditional ties of friendship amongst our countries," the document said.</p>

<p>It also emphasised the need for a constructive dialogue and cooperation on conserving biodiversity, prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, anti-money laundering and terror financing, infrastructure, including the G20 infrastructure agenda, the New Development Bank`s Project Preparation Facility, counter-terrorism, security in the use of ICTs, major international and regional hot spots, peacekeeping and transnational organised crime.</p>

<p>Heads of BRICS member states also stood "unanimous" in resolving the long-standing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa as well as Israel and Palestine."We are unanimous in our resolve that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used as a pretext to delay resolution of the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the leaders stressed.</p>

<p>"Guided by the international framework in places, such as the relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative, we reiterate that the two-state solution will enable Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, in peace and security," they said in the document. "In this context, we express, furthermore, the need for new and creative diplomatic efforts to achieving a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East," the leaders noted.</p>

<p>The leaders also expressed serious concern about the ongoing crisis in the Gulf region and reiterated continuous support to the people of Afghanistan in their effort to build a stable, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous country.</p>

<p>"We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the situation in Afghanistan. We reaffirm our support for a process of peace and reconciliation that is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. We express concern over the persistence of terrorist-related attacks," the document read.</p>

<p>The theme of the BRICS summit this year was `Economic Growth for an Innovative Future` and therefore, keeping in tandem with it, the countries highlighted the importance of science, technology and innovation (STI) as one of the main drivers of economic growth as well as a key element to shape the future of societies.</p>

<p>The member countries also led to the foundation of the BRICS Network of Human Milk Banks and emphasised the importance of our collective action in promoting research and development of medicines and diagnostic tools to end epidemics, to combat communicable diseases and to facilitate access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines, as well as activities to strengthen non-communicable diseases prevention.</p>

<p>Terrorism was another important point of focus at the summit. The leaders once again vowed their commitment to fighting terror and agreed to maintain efforts on anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation and returning of assets, including on civil and administrative proceedings.&nbsp;</p>


The BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, on Thursday, reaffirmed their fundamental commitment to mutual respect and share the goal of building a peaceful, stable and a prosperous world.

The BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, on Thursday, reaffirmed their fundamental commitment to mutual respect and share the goal of building a peaceful, stable and a prosperous world. The document presents a shared vision of the BRICS nations on such issues as a reform of the system of international relations, strengthening of international financial and economic architecture, future cooperation between the five countries. "Building on the work of successive summits in the pillars of economy, peace and security and people-to-people exchanges, we will continue to strengthen BRICS cooperation for the benefit and welfare of our peoples and enhance the traditional ties of friendship amongst our countries," the document said. It also emphasised the need for a constructive dialogue and cooperation on conserving biodiversity, prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, anti-money laundering and terror financing, infrastructure, including the G20 infrastructure agenda, the New Development Bank`s Project Preparation Facility, counter-terrorism, security in the use of ICTs, major international and regional hot spots, peacekeeping and transnational organised crime. Heads of BRICS member states also stood "unanimous" in resolving the long-standing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa as well as Israel and Palestine."We are unanimous in our resolve that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used as a pretext to delay resolution of the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the leaders stressed. "Guided by the international framework in places, such as the relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative, we reiterate that the two-state solution will enable Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, in peace and security," they said in the document. "In this context, we express, furthermore, the need for new and creative diplomatic efforts to achieving a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East," the leaders noted. The leaders also expressed serious concern about the ongoing crisis in the Gulf region and reiterated continuous support to the people of Afghanistan in their effort to build a stable, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous country. "We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the situation in Afghanistan. We reaffirm our support for a process of peace and reconciliation that is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. We express concern over the persistence of terrorist-related attacks," the document read. The theme of the BRICS summit this year was `Economic Growth for an Innovative Future` and therefore, keeping in tandem with it, the countries highlighted the importance of science, technology and innovation (STI) as one of the main drivers of economic growth as well as a key element to shape the future of societies. The member countries also led to the foundation of the BRICS Network of Human Milk Banks and emphasised the importance of our collective action in promoting research and development of medicines and diagnostic tools to end epidemics, to combat communicable diseases and to facilitate access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines, as well as activities to strengthen non-communicable diseases prevention. Terrorism was another important point of focus at the summit. The leaders once again vowed their commitment to fighting terror and agreed to maintain efforts on anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation and returning of assets, including on civil and administrative proceedings.

BRICS stands united in resolving Israel-Palestine, Middle East conflict

<p>BRICS leaders vowed to overcome "challenges" facing multilateralism and called for an urgent need to reform multilateral organisations like United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO) in the joint declaration released on Thursday.</p>

<p>The joint statement came on the second day of the 11th BRICS Summit hosted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. &nbsp;</p>

<p>"Trade tensions and policy uncertainty have taken a toll on confidence, trade, investment and growth," Bolsonaro said as he read out the declaration. "It is critical that all WTO members avoid unilateral and protectionist measures," he said.</p>

<p>He added that the BRICS nations reiterate the fundamental importance of a rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, free and inclusive international trade and reaffirm their commitment to helping overcome the significant challenges currently facing multilateralism.</p>

<p>The joint declaration also called on for an "urgent need" to strengthen and reform the multilateral system that includes organisations such as the UN, WTO,&nbsp;IMF, among others.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The statement also reaffirmed the need for a "comprehensive" reform of the UN, including the Security Council, in order to make it more "representative, effective, and efficient", and to increase the representation of democratic countries so that they can adequately respond to global challenge.</p>

<p>The BRICS leaders also agreed that a military solution to the conflict in Syria is not possible. They also reiterated their commitment to implement Paris climate agreement.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The 20-page document also expressed serious concern over persistent threats to international peace and security and committed to working for achieving lasting peace for everyone.</p>

<p>Earlier <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/brics-nations-contribute-to-half-of-global-economic-development-pm-modi-262162">PM Narendra Modi </a>addressed BRICS business forum where he said that BRICS nations contribute to half of the economic development of the world. PM Modi also urged the forum to create a roadmap to achieve the USD 500 billion intra-BRICS trade target.</p>

<p>BRICS is an association of five major economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.&nbsp;</p>


BRICS leaders vowed to overcome "challenges" facing multilateralism and called for an urgent need to reform multilateral organisations like United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO) in the joint declaration released on Thursday.

BRICS leaders vowed to overcome "challenges" facing multilateralism and called for an urgent need to reform multilateral organisations like United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO) in the joint declaration released on Thursday. The joint statement came on the second day of the 11th BRICS Summit hosted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. "Trade tensions and policy uncertainty have taken a toll on confidence, trade, investment and growth," Bolsonaro said as he read out the declaration. "It is critical that all WTO members avoid unilateral and protectionist measures," he said. He added that the BRICS nations reiterate the fundamental importance of a rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, free and inclusive international trade and reaffirm their commitment to helping overcome the significant challenges currently facing multilateralism. The joint declaration also called on for an "urgent need" to strengthen and reform the multilateral system that includes organisations such as the UN, WTO, IMF, among others. The statement also reaffirmed the need for a "comprehensive" reform of the UN, including the Security Council, in order to make it more "representative, effective, and efficient", and to increase the representation of democratic countries so that they can adequately respond to global challenge. The BRICS leaders also agreed that a military solution to the conflict in Syria is not possible. They also reiterated their commitment to implement Paris climate agreement. The 20-page document also expressed serious concern over persistent threats to international peace and security and committed to working for achieving lasting peace for everyone. Earlier PM Narendra Modi addressed BRICS business forum where he said that BRICS nations contribute to half of the economic development of the world. PM Modi also urged the forum to create a roadmap to achieve the USD 500 billion intra-BRICS trade target. BRICS is an association of five major economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

BRICS leaders call for free trade, United Nations and WTO reforms

<p>China will make a billion-dollar investment in the Brazilian port of Sao Luis via China Communications Construction Company, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.</p>

<p>Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the announcement will be made at the summit of leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the so-called BRICS group of emerging nations, who are meeting in the Brazilian capital for a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/brics-summit-2019-pm-modi-meets-russian-president-putin-261934">two-day summit</a>.</p>

<p>The deal will be part of the largest foreign direct investment into Brazil this year, one of the sources said, without revealing any figures.</p>

<p>Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Wednesday that Brazil is seeking closer integration with China, its largest trading partner, involving not only trade but also investments.</p>

<p>"We had a giant trade agenda, but not so much investment flows. (Now) investment flows are increasing too," one of the sources said.</p>

<p>A third source said the deal will be a "greenfield" operation, with the Chinese investment aimed at expanding the port and operations. It will not involve the purchase of a local company, but may involve equity stakes changing hands, the source said, also on condition of anonymity.</p>

<p>The cornerstone of the port of Sao Luis was laid in March last year. At the time, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported that CCCC led the project with a 51 per cent&nbsp;equity stake in the venture, alongside Brazil's WPR, construction group WTorre, and investment firm Lyon Capital.</p>

<p>Located in the northern state of Maranhao, the port of Sao Luis serves the central, northern and northeastern areas of Brazil, and is connected by the Norte-Sul/Carajas railway. According to one source, CCCC's investment will include spending on the railway.</p>


China will make a billion-dollar investment in the Brazilian port of Sao Luis via China Communications Construction Company, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

China will make a billion-dollar investment in the Brazilian port of Sao Luis via China Communications Construction Company, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the announcement will be made at the summit of leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the so-called BRICS group of emerging nations, who are meeting in the Brazilian capital for a two-day summit. The deal will be part of the largest foreign direct investment into Brazil this year, one of the sources said, without revealing any figures. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Wednesday that Brazil is seeking closer integration with China, its largest trading partner, involving not only trade but also investments. "We had a giant trade agenda, but not so much investment flows. (Now) investment flows are increasing too," one of the sources said. A third source said the deal will be a "greenfield" operation, with the Chinese investment aimed at expanding the port and operations. It will not involve the purchase of a local company, but may involve equity stakes changing hands, the source said, also on condition of anonymity. The cornerstone of the port of Sao Luis was laid in March last year. At the time, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported that CCCC led the project with a 51 per cent equity stake in the venture, alongside Brazil's WPR, construction group WTorre, and investment firm Lyon Capital. Located in the northern state of Maranhao, the port of Sao Luis serves the central, northern and northeastern areas of Brazil, and is connected by the Norte-Sul/Carajas railway. According to one source, CCCC's investment will include spending on the railway.

China to announce billion-dollar investment in Brazilian port of Sao Luis - Sources

<p><br />
On the sidelines of BRICS summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for another visit to China next year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"2020 will be here soon, and I hope China-India relations will achieve new and greater development in the new year," said Chinese president in a statement, reports Reuters. "I welcome you to come to China for another meeting next year."</p>

<p>This development comes after President Jinping met Modi last month in Chennai in India for the second <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/chinese-president-xi-jinping-wraps-up-chennai-visit-leaves-for-nepal-255459">informal summit</a>. Both India and China sought to strengthen ties during Jinping's visit, which was a follow-up of Modi's informal visit to Wuhan in China in 2018.</p>

<p>On Wednesday, both Modi and Jinping met in Brasilia in Brazil on the sidelines of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-russian-president-vladimir-putin-hold-talks-on-sidelines-of-brics-summit-261915">BRICS summit</a>. &nbsp;"</p>

<p>"Held talks with President Xi Jinping. Several subjects pertaining to deepening bilateral cooperation were discussed," PM Modi tweeted after the meet. The Indian prime minister added that today's meet with Chinese president will bring "new vigour" to India-China relations. The Indian PM will again meet President Jinping today. &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Held talks with President Xi Jinping. Several subjects pertaining to deepening bilateral cooperation were discussed.<br />
<br />
Today’s discussions will add new vigour to India-China relations. <a href="https://t.co/mvGZoMYuQ6">pic.twitter.com/mvGZoMYuQ6</a></p>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1194709717236486144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<p>Both countries should "increase political mutual trust, properly manage differences and expand practical cooperation so as to guide a better and more stable development of bilateral ties," the Chinese president said, as per a statement released by Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
"The leaders had forward—looking discussions on various aspects of the multifaceted India-China relationship," the Indian foreign ministry tweeted after Modi-Jinping meet.</p>

<p>Jinping and Modi are in Brazil for the 11th BRICS summit.</p>

<p>BRICS is an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which brings together 23 per cent of global GDP and 42 per cent of the world's population.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The theme of this year's summit is 'Economic Growth for an Innovative Future' and will focus on strengthening ties among the member nations in key areas such as digital economy, science, and technology, as well as in building mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>All the BRICS member nations will again meet on Thursday and will release a joint statement.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BRICS summit is the first time Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hosted a major international event after holding office.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>


On the sidelines of BRICS summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for another visit to China next year. "2020 will be here soon, and I hope China-India relations will achieve new and greater development in the new year," said Chinese president in a statement, reports Reuters.

On the sidelines of BRICS summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for another visit to China next year. "2020 will be here soon, and I hope China-India relations will achieve new and greater development in the new year," said Chinese president in a statement, reports Reuters. "I welcome you to come to China for another meeting next year." This development comes after President Jinping met Modi last month in Chennai in India for the second informal summit. Both India and China sought to strengthen ties during Jinping's visit, which was a follow-up of Modi's informal visit to Wuhan in China in 2018. On Wednesday, both Modi and Jinping met in Brasilia in Brazil on the sidelines of BRICS summit. " "Held talks with President Xi Jinping. Several subjects pertaining to deepening bilateral cooperation were discussed," PM Modi tweeted after the meet. The Indian prime minister added that today's meet with Chinese president will bring "new vigour" to India-China relations. The Indian PM will again meet President Jinping today. Held talks with President Xi Jinping. Several subjects pertaining to deepening bilateral cooperation were discussed. Today’s discussions will add new vigour to India-China relations. pic.twitter.com/mvGZoMYuQ6 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 13, 2019 × Both countries should "increase political mutual trust, properly manage differences and expand practical cooperation so as to guide a better and more stable development of bilateral ties," the Chinese president said, as per a statement released by Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday. "The leaders had forward—looking discussions on various aspects of the multifaceted India-China relationship," the Indian foreign ministry tweeted after Modi-Jinping meet. Jinping and Modi are in Brazil for the 11th BRICS summit. BRICS is an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which brings together 23 per cent of global GDP and 42 per cent of the world's population. The theme of this year's summit is 'Economic Growth for an Innovative Future' and will focus on strengthening ties among the member nations in key areas such as digital economy, science, and technology, as well as in building mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation. All the BRICS member nations will again meet on Thursday and will release a joint statement. The BRICS summit is the first time Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hosted a major international event after holding office.

XI Jinping invites PM Narendra Modi for another visit to China

<p>Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies on Wednesday criticised what they view as politically motivated protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their countries are doing their best to counter the trend.</p>

<p>At their <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/brics-summit-2019-pm-modi-meets-russian-president-putin-261934">annual summit</a>, the leaders of China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa called for greater inter-BRICS trade and investment and urged the group's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brics-nations-to-study-adding-countries-to-development-bank-261746">New Development Bank</a> to pump more funding into infrastructure and sustainable growth.</p>

<p>"Protectionist and bullying counter-currents bring shocks to international trade, adding to downward pressure on the world economy," Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is locked in a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-china-trade-deal-close-but-dashes-hopes-for-signing-details-261767">trade war with the United States</a>, told the summit in Brazil.</p>

<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin said global growth rates have been declining without interruption since the beginning of 2018 and will reach the lowest point in 10 years, citing International Monetary Fund forecasts.</p>

<p>"The BRICS countries are making considerable contributions to support growth," Putin said.</p>

<p>"The global economy has been influenced by the wide usage of unfair competition in trade, unilateral sanctions, including those that are politically motivated, and protectionism is flourishing," Putin said.</p>

<p>India's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pm-narendra-modi-arrives-in-brazil-for-brics-summit-261796">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> said his country aims to be a $5 trillion economy by 2024, up from 2.6 trillion in 2018. He said that BRICS targets for investment and trade must be more ambitious and welcomed suggestions to further reduce trade costs.</p>

<p>Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil is recovering international confidence but needs more economic reforms to create a more attractive business atmosphere for investors.</p>

<p>A meeting between <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-to-announce-billion-dollar-investment-in-brazilian-port-of-sao-luis-sources-261959">Bolsonaro and Xi</a> earlier in the day showcased how far relations have come since last year. Bolsonaro repeatedly bashed China in the lead up to last October's elections in Brazil, creating concerns that he could disrupt BRICS, one of the world's biggest trading partnerships.</p>

<p>China's growing presence had made it a target for Bolsonaro's nationalist rhetoric, including a repeated complaint: "The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil."</p>

<p>Since he took office, diplomats and business leaders in both countries have persuaded Bolsonaro to tone down his anti-China rhetoric.</p>

<p>"We want to more than expand, we want to diversify our trade relationship," Bolsonaro said at the event with Xi.</p>

<p>While diplomatic ceremonies highlighted common ground, not far across town a dispute over the Venezuelan embassy dredged up differences on one of Latin America's most pressing issues.</p>

<p>China and Russia back Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro, but Bolsonaro sees opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate leader.</p>

<p>Supporters of Maduro and Guaido came to blows on Wednesday after representatives for Guaido entered the embassy in Brasilia in what Venezuela's foreign minister called a forceful invasion. The Brazilian government persuaded them to leave after 11 hours.</p>


Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies on Wednesday criticised what they view as politically motivated protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their countries are doing their best to counter the trend.

Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies on Wednesday criticised what they view as politically motivated protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their countries are doing their best to counter the trend. At their annual summit, the leaders of China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa called for greater inter-BRICS trade and investment and urged the group's New Development Bank to pump more funding into infrastructure and sustainable growth. "Protectionist and bullying counter-currents bring shocks to international trade, adding to downward pressure on the world economy," Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is locked in a trade war with the United States, told the summit in Brazil. Russian President Vladimir Putin said global growth rates have been declining without interruption since the beginning of 2018 and will reach the lowest point in 10 years, citing International Monetary Fund forecasts. "The BRICS countries are making considerable contributions to support growth," Putin said. "The global economy has been influenced by the wide usage of unfair competition in trade, unilateral sanctions, including those that are politically motivated, and protectionism is flourishing," Putin said. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country aims to be a $5 trillion economy by 2024, up from 2.6 trillion in 2018. He said that BRICS targets for investment and trade must be more ambitious and welcomed suggestions to further reduce trade costs. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil is recovering international confidence but needs more economic reforms to create a more attractive business atmosphere for investors. A meeting between Bolsonaro and Xi earlier in the day showcased how far relations have come since last year. Bolsonaro repeatedly bashed China in the lead up to last October's elections in Brazil, creating concerns that he could disrupt BRICS, one of the world's biggest trading partnerships. China's growing presence had made it a target for Bolsonaro's nationalist rhetoric, including a repeated complaint: "The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil." Since he took office, diplomats and business leaders in both countries have persuaded Bolsonaro to tone down his anti-China rhetoric. "We want to more than expand, we want to diversify our trade relationship," Bolsonaro said at the event with Xi. While diplomatic ceremonies highlighted common ground, not far across town a dispute over the Venezuelan embassy dredged up differences on one of Latin America's most pressing issues. China and Russia back Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro, but Bolsonaro sees opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate leader. Supporters of Maduro and Guaido came to blows on Wednesday after representatives for Guaido entered the embassy in Brasilia in what Venezuela's foreign minister called a forceful invasion. The Brazilian government persuaded them to leave after 11 hours.

BRICS leaders rail against 'bullying' protectionism

<p>Leaders of the BRICS group of leading emerging economy nations meeting this week will discuss opening their development bank to other countries to increase its capital to fund infrastructure and other projects, diplomats and the bank's head said.</p>

<p>The New Development Bank (NDB) launched in 2014 by China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa has a subscribed capital of $50 billion, of which $10 billion is paid capital.</p>

<p>Diplomats for Brazil and one other BRICS nation said expansion of the bank is on the agenda at the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/pm-modi-to-visit-brazil-for-brics-summit-261491">annual summit</a> November&nbsp;13-14.</p>

<p>NDB President K.V. Kamath said the bank's membership is open to all members of the United Nations and its mandate is to mobilize funds for sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.</p>

<p>"The membership will be expanded gradually," he told Reuters in an interview by email but declined to name any countries.</p>

<p>Kamath rebuffed criticism that the bank has taken a long time to deliver loans to help boost economies amid slowing global growth.</p>

<p>"The NDB has gone a long way in four years, something that took some of our peer institutions decades to achieve," he said referring to other multilateral lending institutions.</p>

<p>As of Monday, the bank's total project approvals stood at $12.5 billion for 45 projects. In 2019 alone it approved 14 loans worth $4.4 billion, he said.</p>

<p>By the end of 2019, the bank projects total approvals to reach $14 billion to $15 billion, almost double the portfolio of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.</p>

<p>Among recent loans, the bank last month approved $500 million for Brazil's national Climate Fund project, known as Fundo Clima in Portuguese, which is aimed at helping the country meet its Nationally Determined Contribution, a target reducing carbon emissions under the Paris climate accord.</p>


Leaders of the BRICS group of leading emerging economy nations meeting this week will discuss opening their development bank to other countries to increase its capital to fund infrastructure and other projects, diplomats and the bank's head said.

Leaders of the BRICS group of leading emerging economy nations meeting this week will discuss opening their development bank to other countries to increase its capital to fund infrastructure and other projects, diplomats and the bank's head said. The New Development Bank (NDB) launched in 2014 by China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa has a subscribed capital of $50 billion, of which $10 billion is paid capital. Diplomats for Brazil and one other BRICS nation said expansion of the bank is on the agenda at the annual summit November 13-14. NDB President K.V. Kamath said the bank's membership is open to all members of the United Nations and its mandate is to mobilize funds for sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries. "The membership will be expanded gradually," he told Reuters in an interview by email but declined to name any countries. Kamath rebuffed criticism that the bank has taken a long time to deliver loans to help boost economies amid slowing global growth. "The NDB has gone a long way in four years, something that took some of our peer institutions decades to achieve," he said referring to other multilateral lending institutions. As of Monday, the bank's total project approvals stood at $12.5 billion for 45 projects. In 2019 alone it approved 14 loans worth $4.4 billion, he said. By the end of 2019, the bank projects total approvals to reach $14 billion to $15 billion, almost double the portfolio of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Among recent loans, the bank last month approved $500 million for Brazil's national Climate Fund project, known as Fundo Clima in Portuguese, which is aimed at helping the country meet its Nationally Determined Contribution, a target reducing carbon emissions under the Paris climate accord.

BRICS nations to study adding more countries to development bank

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the 11th BRICS Summit that will take place in Brazil tomorrow.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the prime minister will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Chinese President Xi Jinping.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The prime minister will be in Brazil from November 13-14 for the 11th BRICS summit during which New Delhi's focus will be on the issue of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-to-focus-on-reformed-multilateralism-at-11th-brics-summit-in-brazil-261471">multilateralism and counter-terror</a>.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil to attend the 11th BRICS summit. <a href="https://t.co/uVm5Rjo4PS">pic.twitter.com/uVm5Rjo4PS</a></p>
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<p>Ahead of the visit, Secretary Economic Relations T S Tirumurt said, "Prime Minister has articulated his vision for reformed multilateralism and has underlined the importance of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system itself. He has specifically underlined that when we call for multilateralism, we should not call to reinforce the status-quo of multilateralism but seek to reform multilateralism itself since this is what BRICS had originally set out to do".</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro on the sidelines of 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/6DQARpavIz">https://t.co/6DQARpavIz</a></p>
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<p>Cooperation on the counter-terror front has been another key focus of New Delhi, with Secretary ER saying, India has "worked closely within BRICS to not only take a strong stand against terrorism but also work to bring about focused consultations on specific aspects related to terrorism".</p>

<p>In his departure statement, he said that the BRICS Summit will provide the opportunity to hold "useful bilateral interactions" with leaders of other BRICS countries.</p>

<p>"I look forward to exchanging views with other BRICS leaders with the aim to further strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation particularly on the theme of the Summit "Economic growth for an innovative future".</p>

<p>During the Summit, the five major economies of the World will aim to significantly strengthen their cooperation in science, technology, and innovation; enhance cooperation on digital economy and build mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation within the BRICS framework," Modi said in the statement.</p>

<p>Taking about his bilateral meeting with Bolsonaro, Modi said that he will discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership between India and Brazil. "Brazil and India share close and ever-expanding bilateral relations, including in the spheres of defense, security, trade, agriculture, energy, and space. Close cooperation between the two countries in multilateral forums has been a significant aspect of our strategic relationship," Modi said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The prime minister will address the BRICS Business Forum and will interact with members of BRICS Business Council and New Development Bank.</p>

<p>BRICS brings together five major world economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - which comprise 42 per cent of the world population, contribute to 23 percent of global Gross Domestic Product and around 17 percent of the share in world trade.</p>

<p>(<em>With inputs from ANI)</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the 11th BRICS Summit that will take place in Brazil tomorrow. On the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the prime minister will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the 11th BRICS Summit that will take place in Brazil tomorrow. On the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the prime minister will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The prime minister will be in Brazil from November 13-14 for the 11th BRICS summit during which New Delhi's focus will be on the issue of multilateralism and counter-terror. Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil to attend the 11th BRICS summit. pic.twitter.com/uVm5Rjo4PS — ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2019 × Ahead of the visit, Secretary Economic Relations T S Tirumurt said, "Prime Minister has articulated his vision for reformed multilateralism and has underlined the importance of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system itself. He has specifically underlined that when we call for multilateralism, we should not call to reinforce the status-quo of multilateralism but seek to reform multilateralism itself since this is what BRICS had originally set out to do". Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro on the sidelines of 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil tomorrow. https://t.co/6DQARpavIz — ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2019 × Cooperation on the counter-terror front has been another key focus of New Delhi, with Secretary ER saying, India has "worked closely within BRICS to not only take a strong stand against terrorism but also work to bring about focused consultations on specific aspects related to terrorism". In his departure statement, he said that the BRICS Summit will provide the opportunity to hold "useful bilateral interactions" with leaders of other BRICS countries. "I look forward to exchanging views with other BRICS leaders with the aim to further strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation particularly on the theme of the Summit "Economic growth for an innovative future". During the Summit, the five major economies of the World will aim to significantly strengthen their cooperation in science, technology, and innovation; enhance cooperation on digital economy and build mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation within the BRICS framework," Modi said in the statement. Taking about his bilateral meeting with Bolsonaro, Modi said that he will discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership between India and Brazil. "Brazil and India share close and ever-expanding bilateral relations, including in the spheres of defense, security, trade, agriculture, energy, and space. Close cooperation between the two countries in multilateral forums has been a significant aspect of our strategic relationship," Modi said. The prime minister will address the BRICS Business Forum and will interact with members of BRICS Business Council and New Development Bank. BRICS brings together five major world economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - which comprise 42 per cent of the world population, contribute to 23 percent of global Gross Domestic Product and around 17 percent of the share in world trade. (With inputs from ANI)

PM Modi leaves for Brazil to attend 11th BRICS Summit; will meet Putin and Xi 

<p>India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Brazil from November 13-14 for the 11th BRICS summit during which New Delhi's focus will be on the issue of multilateralism and counter-terror.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Ahead of the visit, Secretary Economic Relations T S Tirumurt said, "Prime Minister has articulated his vision for reformed multilateralism and has underlined the importance of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system itself. He has specifically underlined that when we call for multilateralism, we should not call to reinforce the status-quo of multilateralism but seek to reform multilateralism itself since this is what BRICS had originally set out to do".</p>

<p>Cooperation on the counter-terror front has been another key focus of New Delhi, with Secretary ER saying, India has "worked closely within BRICS to not only take a strong stand against terrorism but also work to bring about focused consultations on specific aspects related to terrorism".</p>

<p>A joint working grouping has been constituted by BRICS with five focus areas - terrorist financing, countering radicalisation, issue of foreign terrorist fighters, capacity-building and use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. India will be chairing the subgroup on the misuse of the internet by terrorists.</p>

<p>In fact, during the BRICS National Security Advisors meet in Brazil, NSA Ajit Doval had put the proposal to host a BRICS workshop on digital forensics in India. Under Brazil's presidency, first BRICS seminar on Strategies for Countering Terrorism took place.</p>

<p>The PM is also expected to meet his Russian, Brazilian and Chinese counterparts. PM last met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tamil Nadu for the second India China informal summit and Brazilian President Bolsonaro on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka Japan.</p>

<p>Four Key outcomes of the summit include MoUs between trade and investment promotion agencies of BRICS, the launch of BRICS women business alliance, iBRICS - Innovation network of BRICS which will include setting up research institutes like science parks, incubators, accelerators and BRICS institute of the future network.</p>


India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Brazil from November 13-14 for the 11th BRICS summit during which New Delhi's focus will be on the issue of multilateralism and counter-terror.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Brazil from November 13-14 for the 11th BRICS summit during which New Delhi's focus will be on the issue of multilateralism and counter-terror. Ahead of the visit, Secretary Economic Relations T S Tirumurt said, "Prime Minister has articulated his vision for reformed multilateralism and has underlined the importance of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system itself. He has specifically underlined that when we call for multilateralism, we should not call to reinforce the status-quo of multilateralism but seek to reform multilateralism itself since this is what BRICS had originally set out to do". Cooperation on the counter-terror front has been another key focus of New Delhi, with Secretary ER saying, India has "worked closely within BRICS to not only take a strong stand against terrorism but also work to bring about focused consultations on specific aspects related to terrorism". A joint working grouping has been constituted by BRICS with five focus areas - terrorist financing, countering radicalisation, issue of foreign terrorist fighters, capacity-building and use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. India will be chairing the subgroup on the misuse of the internet by terrorists. In fact, during the BRICS National Security Advisors meet in Brazil, NSA Ajit Doval had put the proposal to host a BRICS workshop on digital forensics in India. Under Brazil's presidency, first BRICS seminar on Strategies for Countering Terrorism took place. The PM is also expected to meet his Russian, Brazilian and Chinese counterparts. PM last met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tamil Nadu for the second India China informal summit and Brazilian President Bolsonaro on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka Japan. Four Key outcomes of the summit include MoUs between trade and investment promotion agencies of BRICS, the launch of BRICS women business alliance, iBRICS - Innovation network of BRICS which will include setting up research institutes like science parks, incubators, accelerators and BRICS institute of the future network.

PM Modi to focus on reformed multilateralism at 11th BRICS Summit in Brazil

<p>Chinese <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-xi-meeting-in-iowa-would-be-poignant-reminder-of-better-us-china-ties-260213">President Xi Jinping</a> on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government.</p>

<p>Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board.</p>

<p>"It is our duty to steadily upgrade our cooperation in all sectors, by delving deeply into existing fields and expanding the range of investments", the Chinese president said in an article published in "Kathimerini" newspaper on Sunday.</p>

<p>Xi is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the trip, with the two countries set to sign cooperation documents on education, shipping and energy.</p>

<p>According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the visit to Athens will have "historical significance" for the development of China-Greece relations, and will also "inject new impetus" into the development of China-EU relations and Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative.</p>

<p>Greece is one of the backers of the plan for a massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe that will see trillions invested in new infrastructure across 126 countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Relations with Greece are a priority for China," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told Thema radio on Thursday.</p>

<p>"They came and invested in Greece when others stayed away" during the economic crisis, Dendias said.</p>

<p>Xi's visit comes on the heels of a four-day trip to Shanghai by Greece's new conservative Prime Minister Mitsotakis earlier this week at the head of a delegation of more than 60 businessmen.</p>

<p>Elected in July, Mitsotakis has made foreign investment and privatisation a linchpin of his administration's policy to restore Greece's sluggish economy to growth after a gruelling 10-year crisis.</p>

<p>"I want the first words by Greek authorities to those who come to invest to be 'how can I help you?'" said Mitsotakis, who plans to visit China again in April.</p>

<p>Greece has been building progressively closer trade&nbsp;relations with China for more than a decade, spearheaded by a 2008 deal by a previous conservative government to cede container terminals at the main port of Piraeus to Chinese shipping giant Cosco.</p>

<p>Cosco has already invested some 600 million euros ($660 million) in Piraeus, creating 3,000 jobs, and its overall footprint could reach one billion euros, Mitsotakis said during his Shanghai visit.</p>

<p>According to the Greek government, Greek shipowners have also built more than 1,000 vessels worth over $50 billion (45 billion euros) in China in the past 15 years.</p>

<p>Greece expects 500,000 Chinese visitors over the next two years, compared to under 200,000 in 2019, Mitsotakis said during his trip.</p>

<p>Over 5,000 Chinese have purchased property in Greece, taking advantage of a five-year 'Golden Visa' residency programme launched in 2013.</p>

<p>Cosco in 2008 acquired Piraeus' two main container terminals on a 35-year lease. In 2016 it also took over the Piraeus port authority,&nbsp;and the third remaining container terminal,&nbsp;until 2052.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Greece has also signed up to China's new "Belt and Road" project, a $1 trillion global investment programme aiming to forward Chinese goods to markets further afield.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/brics-can-set-example-for-the-rest-of-the-world-brazilian-envoy-260567">BRICS summit</a> takes place in Brasilia from November 13 to 14.</p>

<p>Xi will attend the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, the closed-door meeting of leaders from hosts Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, as well as a public meeting, and issue a joint declaration.</p>


Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government. Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government. Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board. "It is our duty to steadily upgrade our cooperation in all sectors, by delving deeply into existing fields and expanding the range of investments", the Chinese president said in an article published in "Kathimerini" newspaper on Sunday. Xi is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the trip, with the two countries set to sign cooperation documents on education, shipping and energy. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the visit to Athens will have "historical significance" for the development of China-Greece relations, and will also "inject new impetus" into the development of China-EU relations and Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative. Greece is one of the backers of the plan for a massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe that will see trillions invested in new infrastructure across 126 countries. "Relations with Greece are a priority for China," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told Thema radio on Thursday. "They came and invested in Greece when others stayed away" during the economic crisis, Dendias said. Xi's visit comes on the heels of a four-day trip to Shanghai by Greece's new conservative Prime Minister Mitsotakis earlier this week at the head of a delegation of more than 60 businessmen. Elected in July, Mitsotakis has made foreign investment and privatisation a linchpin of his administration's policy to restore Greece's sluggish economy to growth after a gruelling 10-year crisis. "I want the first words by Greek authorities to those who come to invest to be 'how can I help you?'" said Mitsotakis, who plans to visit China again in April. Greece has been building progressively closer trade relations with China for more than a decade, spearheaded by a 2008 deal by a previous conservative government to cede container terminals at the main port of Piraeus to Chinese shipping giant Cosco. Cosco has already invested some 600 million euros ($660 million) in Piraeus, creating 3,000 jobs, and its overall footprint could reach one billion euros, Mitsotakis said during his Shanghai visit. According to the Greek government, Greek shipowners have also built more than 1,000 vessels worth over $50 billion (45 billion euros) in China in the past 15 years. Greece expects 500,000 Chinese visitors over the next two years, compared to under 200,000 in 2019, Mitsotakis said during his trip. Over 5,000 Chinese have purchased property in Greece, taking advantage of a five-year 'Golden Visa' residency programme launched in 2013. Cosco in 2008 acquired Piraeus' two main container terminals on a 35-year lease. In 2016 it also took over the Piraeus port authority, and the third remaining container terminal, until 2052. Greece has also signed up to China's new "Belt and Road" project, a $1 trillion global investment programme aiming to forward Chinese goods to markets further afield. The BRICS summit takes place in Brasilia from November 13 to 14. Xi will attend the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, the closed-door meeting of leaders from hosts Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, as well as a public meeting, and issue a joint declaration.

President Xi to hold talks in Greece en route to BRICS summit

<p>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be the chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day parade here, sources said.</p>

<p>Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended an invitation to US President Donald Trump, but he expressed his inability citing "scheduling conflicts."</p>

<p>Cyril Ramaphosa will be the second leader from South Africa to attend India's Republic Day parade as the chief guest.</p>

<p>Former President Nelson Mandela was the chief guest at the 1995 Republic Day parade.</p>

<p>South African President Ramaphosa is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. A few months back, he led as many as 5,000 people at the annual 'Gandhi Walk'&nbsp;event organized at Lenasia, a few kilometers away from Johannesburg in an attempt to promote fitness and community awareness.India and South Africa are making efforts to develop bilateral relations in order to boost trade and investment relations.</p>

<p>Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in Johannesburg. During the meet, the two-state heads signed MoUs in the areas of defense, trade, culture, agriculture, and dairy cooperation.</p>


South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be the chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day parade here, sources said. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended an invitation to US President Donald Trump, but he expressed his inability citing "scheduling conflicts.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be the chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day parade here, sources said. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended an invitation to US President Donald Trump, but he expressed his inability citing "scheduling conflicts." Cyril Ramaphosa will be the second leader from South Africa to attend India's Republic Day parade as the chief guest. Former President Nelson Mandela was the chief guest at the 1995 Republic Day parade. South African President Ramaphosa is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. A few months back, he led as many as 5,000 people at the annual 'Gandhi Walk' event organized at Lenasia, a few kilometers away from Johannesburg in an attempt to promote fitness and community awareness.India and South Africa are making efforts to develop bilateral relations in order to boost trade and investment relations. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in Johannesburg. During the meet, the two-state heads signed MoUs in the areas of defense, trade, culture, agriculture, and dairy cooperation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa likely to be chief guest at Republic Day

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for two days for an <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/modi-xi-will-not-sign-agreements-at-wuhan-summit-but-build-trust-to-resolve-bilateral-issues-china-132552">'informal meeting'</a> with President Xi Jinping, as efforts at rapprochement gather pace following a testing year in ties between the two giant neighbours.</p>

<p>Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the two would meet on Friday and Saturday in the central <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/why-is-india-china-wuhan-summit-different--132672">Chinese city of Wuhan</a>. He added that PM Modi is visiting Wuhan at the invitation of President Xi.</p>

<p>But the details of the meeting, which is reported to have been called suddenly, were being worked upon for the past many days. The meeting of India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with China's State Councillor on April 13, and presence of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in China point towards this.</p>

<p>"Our common interests far outweigh our differences. The two countries have no choice other than pursuing everlasting friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development," Wang told reporters after meeting Swaraj in Beijing.</p>

<p>Swaraj confirmed later that her discussion with Wang was to prepare for the informal summit.</p>

<p><a href="www.wionews.com/india-news/modi-xi-to-chart-a-new-course-for-india-china-ties-at-wuhan-summit--132075">Modi's visit</a> is being considered as a bold step, especially after the Doklam stand-off and other border issues. The Asian giants were locked in a 73-day military stand-off in Doklam last year. At one point, soldiers from the two sides threw stones and punches.</p>

<p>This is the fourth time Modi will be visiting China after becoming the Prime Minister. He visited China for bilateral talks in 2015, then again in 2016 to take part in G-20 summit. Modi also attended the BRICS Summit last year in China.</p>

<p>It is almost unheard of for foreign leaders to visit China in such close succession. Xi is also extending Modi the rare honour of a meeting outside of Beijing, which almost never happens unless there is a multilateral summit taking place. Chinese officials said Modi will stay in the most comfortable place in Wuhan.</p>

<p>"The two leaders will spend two days in Wuhan. In these two days, they will engage with other on various forums. What I can tell you here is that they will spend a lot of time together one-on-one," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said. "Leaders in the past met in multilateral occasions, 30 minutes or one hour. Those meetings are important but personally speaking the meetings on the multilateral occasions are more ceremonial meetings," he added.</p>

<p><strong>What's on the agenda?</strong></p>

<p>Trade talks are likely to dominate the meeting between Modi and Xi. With a trade war brewing between US and China, Beijing is keen to amp up the volume of trade with New Delhi. Currently, the trade deficit between the two countries is close to Rs 3.5 lakh crore, though exports have risen by 39 per cent and imports by 14. India has been trying hard to reduce the trade deficit and has been asking Beijing to open IT and pharma sectors for Indian firms.</p>

<p>The second talking point between two leaders is going to be the border issue. Both Modi and Xi are likely to discuss the situation in Doklam and iron out issues pertaining to the network of roads in border areas.</p>

<p>However, sources in New Delhi said the meeting will not have an "issue-based discussion but a strategic conversation between the two leaders to understand each other's perspective on national and international matters". They also said that the summit is not aimed at "resetting" India-China ties.</p>

<p>At the informal summit, the two leaders will have strategic communication on the major changes in the international landscape unseen in more than 100 years. They will have in-depth exchange of views on the issues of overarching long-term and strategic importance in the bilateral relations, Kong said.</p>

<p>"This time we will make the first attempt to hold the informal summit. I am confident that with the joint efforts of both sides the new format will live up to the expectations," he added.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</p>


It is almost unheard of for foreign leaders to visit China in such close succession.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for two days for an 'informal meeting' with President Xi Jinping, as efforts at rapprochement gather pace following a testing year in ties between the two giant neighbours. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the two would meet on Friday and Saturday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. He added that PM Modi is visiting Wuhan at the invitation of President Xi. But the details of the meeting, which is reported to have been called suddenly, were being worked upon for the past many days. The meeting of India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with China's State Councillor on April 13, and presence of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in China point towards this. "Our common interests far outweigh our differences. The two countries have no choice other than pursuing everlasting friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development," Wang told reporters after meeting Swaraj in Beijing. Swaraj confirmed later that her discussion with Wang was to prepare for the informal summit. Modi's visit is being considered as a bold step, especially after the Doklam stand-off and other border issues. The Asian giants were locked in a 73-day military stand-off in Doklam last year. At one point, soldiers from the two sides threw stones and punches. This is the fourth time Modi will be visiting China after becoming the Prime Minister. He visited China for bilateral talks in 2015, then again in 2016 to take part in G-20 summit. Modi also attended the BRICS Summit last year in China. It is almost unheard of for foreign leaders to visit China in such close succession. Xi is also extending Modi the rare honour of a meeting outside of Beijing, which almost never happens unless there is a multilateral summit taking place. Chinese officials said Modi will stay in the most comfortable place in Wuhan. "The two leaders will spend two days in Wuhan. In these two days, they will engage with other on various forums. What I can tell you here is that they will spend a lot of time together one-on-one," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said. "Leaders in the past met in multilateral occasions, 30 minutes or one hour. Those meetings are important but personally speaking the meetings on the multilateral occasions are more ceremonial meetings," he added. What's on the agenda? Trade talks are likely to dominate the meeting between Modi and Xi. With a trade war brewing between US and China, Beijing is keen to amp up the volume of trade with New Delhi. Currently, the trade deficit between the two countries is close to Rs 3.5 lakh crore, though exports have risen by 39 per cent and imports by 14. India has been trying hard to reduce the trade deficit and has been asking Beijing to open IT and pharma sectors for Indian firms. The second talking point between two leaders is going to be the border issue. Both Modi and Xi are likely to discuss the situation in Doklam and iron out issues pertaining to the network of roads in border areas. However, sources in New Delhi said the meeting will not have an "issue-based discussion but a strategic conversation between the two leaders to understand each other's perspective on national and international matters". They also said that the summit is not aimed at "resetting" India-China ties. At the informal summit, the two leaders will have strategic communication on the major changes in the international landscape unseen in more than 100 years. They will have in-depth exchange of views on the issues of overarching long-term and strategic importance in the bilateral relations, Kong said. "This time we will make the first attempt to hold the informal summit. I am confident that with the joint efforts of both sides the new format will live up to the expectations," he added.

With trade deficit on mind, Modi heads to Wuhan for 'informal meeting' with Xi Jinping

<p><strong>By: Diya Dutta&nbsp;&amp; Tomojit Basu</strong></p>

<p>The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa&nbsp;met in Xiamen, China, between September 3rd and 5th at the Ninth BRICS Summit, with the group looking to further its policy influence on developing an alternative international cooperation discourse led by the global South.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to reimagine the international development cooperation/assistance architecture with a focus on sustainability, equality, and eradication of poverty. In this context, the BRICS nations, who are significant aid providers today, assume a central role, more so as actors having endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). &nbsp;</p>

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<p>Development cooperation, or more specifically South South Cooperation (SSC), is a key foreign policy tool in this regard. South-South Cooperation is an important element of the diverse range of international cooperation.&nbsp;It has developed as an expression of solidarity among developing countries,&nbsp;who are themselves receivers of foreign aid. It refers to a broad framework of collaboration among these countries in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains, by and large, based on their shared experiences. Involving two or more countries for collaboration in meeting their particular development needs can take place on a bilateral, regional, intra-regional or inter-regional basis.</p>

<p>Countries of the global South share knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources to meet their development ambitions through concerted efforts. Countries like India, China and Brazil have been giving development assistance for over five&nbsp;decades and are not new to the concept. Such partnerships and resource flows are marked by non-conditionality and inclusivity and are demand-driven in nature.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Given that aid budgets, particularly grants, are sourced from taxpayers&rsquo; money, the need for Southern donors to be held accountable and transparent in the processes of development cooperation is a cardinal issue which needs to be addressed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As it stands, reporting mechanisms for resource provision and utilisation, assessments of social and environmental impacts, contraction and sub-contraction norms, and a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, among other subjects, are either weak, non-existent, or incoherent among various actors.</p>

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<h5>India&rsquo;s generous development cooperation programme has expanded by more than 300 per cent over the last decade.</h5>
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<p><strong>India and SSC challenges to assessment</strong></p>

<p>A number of factors have aided India&rsquo;s transformation from a net aid-recipient country to its emergence as a major development assistance facilitator over the last 25 years.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Largely riding on the positive effects of economic liberalisation which saw the country grow at a near-7 per cent average between 1991 and 2016, India&rsquo;s generous development cooperation programme has expanded by more than 300 per cent over the last decade. As of the last fiscal, India contributes more to development cooperation efforts than 12 out of 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development&rsquo;s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a group comprising, primarily, of wealthy &lsquo;Northern&rsquo; donors. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>With a foreign aid programme amounting to more than USD 1 billion each year between 2013 and 2017, and coupled with its extensive international peacekeeping and humanitarian commitments, India is a major SSC actor and has facilitated the promotion of infrastructure and industrial development, capacity building and socio-cultural welfare, in its immediate neighbourhood but even beyond, most notably in African nations. Its soft power projection through technical assistance and knowledge sharing programmes, educational support and healthcare training, has helped strengthen its footing geopolitically.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But how is one to gauge the effectiveness of resources flowing to India&rsquo;s Southern partners? How does one situate efficiency when projects are delayed or see cost overruns? Ostensibly meant to facilitate development, just how much has Indian aid been pro-poor in nature?&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>There is a need to democratise the aid assistance programme and make efforts to facilitate greater public understanding of India&rsquo;s aid commitments.</h5>
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<p>The methodological challenges to answer these questions are manifold which, in turn, makes analysing donor accountability a challenge. While successive High-Level Forums on aid effectiveness &ndash; held in Rome (2002), Paris (2005), Accra (2008), and Busan (2011) &ndash; saw DAC and non-DAC donors agree on principles, such as developing country ownership, SSC concepts continue to compete with traditional North-South development assistance models.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Take, for example, the issue of measuring SSC/aid flows. SSC premised on mutual benefit, takes into account&nbsp;aid promoting commercial interests, a departure from the OECD&rsquo;s practice of separating donors&rsquo; poverty reduction activities from its commercial undertakings. A great deal of SSC is also &lsquo;in kind&rsquo; or involves a transfer of technical expertise shaped by emerging donors&rsquo; own development experience, which is difficult to quantify monetarily. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Challenges such as these make global norms setting in the development assistance architecture difficult at a juncture when global efforts for inclusive development require closer coordination. While competing interpretations of development cooperation must be welcomed, evolving a common reporting mechanism among Southern providers would help in the better examination of aid effectiveness and help separate best practices from good ones. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Time for a white paper on India&rsquo;s Foreign Aid objectives</strong></p>

<p>There is a need to democratise the aid assistance programme and make efforts to facilitate greater public understanding of India&rsquo;s aid commitments. The process of setting in motion a green or white paper on aid to spelling out India&rsquo;s foreign aid objectives and strategy would be a good starting point for the public to better comprehend SSC. Improving the access to disaggregated data on projects, feasibility reports and impact assessments or audits would make the development cooperation process vastly more accountable.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>The Indian Government would also benefit from decades of experience and expertise among CSOs across various fields of international development including poverty reduction, women&rsquo;s empowerment, social protection and community development.</h5>
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<p>Public participation would also be welcome at a time when India&rsquo;s overseas commitments are likely to keep expanding. The inclusion of civil society organisations (CSOs) in a multi-stakeholder setting to feed into policy formulation &ndash; a principle outlined by the Busan Partnership Agreement (2012) &ndash; would make systems more transparent and accountable. The Indian Government would also benefit from decades of experience and expertise among CSOs across various fields of international development, including poverty reduction, women&rsquo;s empowerment, social protection and community development. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Ultimately, civil society actors act as conduits of information between the administration and the public. If the Indian taxpayer is to help steer efficient development outcomes among geopolitical partners, it would be useful to know just how those resources are utilised and how processes could be ameliorated.</p>


As India has participated in the ninth BRICS Summit this September, we take a closer look at India?s emergence as a leader in the Foreign Aid Architecture, and the questions of transparency, accountability and the role of civil society.?

By: Diya Dutta & Tomojit Basu The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met in Xiamen, China, between September 3rd and 5th at the Ninth BRICS Summit, with the group looking to further its policy influence on developing an alternative international cooperation discourse led by the global South. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to reimagine the international development cooperation/assistance architecture with a focus on sustainability, equality, and eradication of poverty. In this context, the BRICS nations, who are significant aid providers today, assume a central role, more so as actors having endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Countries of the global South share knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources to meet their development ambitions through concerted efforts. × Development cooperation, or more specifically South South Cooperation (SSC), is a key foreign policy tool in this regard. South-South Cooperation is an important element of the diverse range of international cooperation. It has developed as an expression of solidarity among developing countries, who are themselves receivers of foreign aid. It refers to a broad framework of collaboration among these countries in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains, by and large, based on their shared experiences. Involving two or more countries for collaboration in meeting their particular development needs can take place on a bilateral, regional, intra-regional or inter-regional basis. Countries of the global South share knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources to meet their development ambitions through concerted efforts. Countries like India, China and Brazil have been giving development assistance for over five decades and are not new to the concept. Such partnerships and resource flows are marked by non-conditionality and inclusivity and are demand-driven in nature. Given that aid budgets, particularly grants, are sourced from taxpayers’ money, the need for Southern donors to be held accountable and transparent in the processes of development cooperation is a cardinal issue which needs to be addressed. As it stands, reporting mechanisms for resource provision and utilisation, assessments of social and environmental impacts, contraction and sub-contraction norms, and a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, among other subjects, are either weak, non-existent, or incoherent among various actors. India’s generous development cooperation programme has expanded by more than 300 per cent over the last decade. × India and SSC challenges to assessment A number of factors have aided India’s transformation from a net aid-recipient country to its emergence as a major development assistance facilitator over the last 25 years. Largely riding on the positive effects of economic liberalisation which saw the country grow at a near-7 per cent average between 1991 and 2016, India’s generous development cooperation programme has expanded by more than 300 per cent over the last decade. As of the last fiscal, India contributes more to development cooperation efforts than 12 out of 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a group comprising, primarily, of wealthy ‘Northern’ donors. With a foreign aid programme amounting to more than USD 1 billion each year between 2013 and 2017, and coupled with its extensive international peacekeeping and humanitarian commitments, India is a major SSC actor and has facilitated the promotion of infrastructure and industrial development, capacity building and socio-cultural welfare, in its immediate neighbourhood but even beyond, most notably in African nations. Its soft power projection through technical assistance and knowledge sharing programmes, educational support and healthcare training, has helped strengthen its footing geopolitically. But how is one to gauge the effectiveness of resources flowing to India’s Southern partners? How does one situate efficiency when projects are delayed or see cost overruns? Ostensibly meant to facilitate development, just how much has Indian aid been pro-poor in nature? There is a need to democratise the aid assistance programme and make efforts to facilitate greater public understanding of India’s aid commitments. × The methodological challenges to answer these questions are manifold which, in turn, makes analysing donor accountability a challenge. While successive High-Level Forums on aid effectiveness – held in Rome (2002), Paris (2005), Accra (2008), and Busan (2011) – saw DAC and non-DAC donors agree on principles, such as developing country ownership, SSC concepts continue to compete with traditional North-South development assistance models. Take, for example, the issue of measuring SSC/aid flows. SSC premised on mutual benefit, takes into account aid promoting commercial interests, a departure from the OECD’s practice of separating donors’ poverty reduction activities from its commercial undertakings. A great deal of SSC is also ‘in kind’ or involves a transfer of technical expertise shaped by emerging donors’ own development experience, which is difficult to quantify monetarily. Challenges such as these make global norms setting in the development assistance architecture difficult at a juncture when global efforts for inclusive development require closer coordination. While competing interpretations of development cooperation must be welcomed, evolving a common reporting mechanism among Southern providers would help in the better examination of aid effectiveness and help separate best practices from good ones. Time for a white paper on India’s Foreign Aid objectives There is a need to democratise the aid assistance programme and make efforts to facilitate greater public understanding of India’s aid commitments. The process of setting in motion a green or white paper on aid to spelling out India’s foreign aid objectives and strategy would be a good starting point for the public to better comprehend SSC. Improving the access to disaggregated data on projects, feasibility reports and impact assessments or audits would make the development cooperation process vastly more accountable. The Indian Government would also benefit from decades of experience and expertise among CSOs across various fields of international development including poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, social protection and community development. × Public participation would also be welcome at a time when India’s overseas commitments are likely to keep expanding. The inclusion of civil society organisations (CSOs) in a multi-stakeholder setting to feed into policy formulation – a principle outlined by the Busan Partnership Agreement (2012) – would make systems more transparent and accountable. The Indian Government would also benefit from decades of experience and expertise among CSOs across various fields of international development, including poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, social protection and community development. Ultimately, civil society actors act as conduits of information between the administration and the public. If the Indian taxpayer is to help steer efficient development outcomes among geopolitical partners, it would be useful to know just how those resources are utilised and how processes could be ameliorated.

How India can emerge as the global leader in bringing sustainable development

<p>Rather than the Xiamen BRICS summit making to the recent headlines, it was the much-needed meeting between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping which captured more eyes. If the two and half month long Doklam border tension made Modi&rsquo;s visit to China significant, it was Modi&rsquo;s ingenious articulation on India-China relations while promoting India&rsquo;s developmental narratives during the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen that was really impressive.</p>

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<h5>The Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship.</h5>
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<p>To begin with, the Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. The moot point of the Xiamen meeting was to offer a forward-looking narrative to India-China relations that have been on the downside due to the Doklam border tension. As India&rsquo;s Foreign Secretary Jaishankar briefed, after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Modi was candid in telling Xi Jinping that &ldquo;differences between India, China should not become disputes&rdquo;. On China&rsquo;s part, it was reported, Xi Jinping urged Prime Minister Modi to put the bilateral relationship on the &ldquo;right track&rdquo;. Xi was reported saying that China would be seeking India&rsquo;s partnership under the five principles of &lsquo;Panchsheel&rsquo;.</p>

<p>Stressing on &ldquo;peace and tranquillity&rdquo; as a pre-requisite for confidence-building in border areas, both leaders agreed that they can&rsquo;t afford to &ldquo;let India-China relations change&rdquo; at a time when the world is changing. The move was to push ahead the relationship under a &ldquo;forwarding framework&rdquo; that was agreed between the two leaders during the Astana meeting this year. These statements appearing from Xiamen certainly indicate that there is a fresh approach to rebuild the relationship after the Doklam border tension. Still one needs to see whether these statements would be confined to their rhetoric best or would these really be translating into any action, resulting in a more nuanced relationship that would be &#39;forwarding&#39; in nature.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The effort to rebuild India-China relations in Xiamen is certainly a welcome step. The intent to have a &lsquo;forwarding relationship&rsquo; complements their official &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; which was framed during Xi Jinping&rsquo;s visit to India in September 2015. The essence of this &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; was to forge a closer economic partnership, enhancing the decade-old Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi holds a strategic significance in the overall context of current India-China relationship.</p>

<p>It needs to be however asked: Will the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi really reconstruct the relationship?&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time.</h5>
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<p>Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi was a brief one. A thorough discussion to rebuild the relationship and any concrete outcome from this short meeting was hence unexpected. Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time.</p>

<p>This stated &#39;forwarding&#39; partnership, however, can be built under an intensive economic cooperation and multilateral engagement. The effort should be made to expedite trade and economic engagement, which used to be the most stabilising factor in India-China relations over the last one and half decade. Similarly, multi-lateral engagement must be accelerated where forums like BRICS could allow them to rebuild confidence even though the tension re-emerges. In fact, the need of the time is to have an introspection of their past trajectory of engagement wherein both decided to design a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The proposal for a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; was primarily a Chinese suggestion. In fact, China under Xi Jinping today has similar &lsquo;developmental partnerships&rsquo; with a number of countries. But it was Narendra Modi who had initially sown the seeds of the partnership between the two countries during his visit to China as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Modi had identified China as an &lsquo;economic hub&rsquo; and had ardently backed initially for a greater China-India economic engagement.</p>

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<p>As Prime Minister, Modi had elevated this by suggesting a &lsquo;bilaterally global&rsquo; proposition and importantly by defining the relationship as &lsquo;Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy). It brought the developmental course to the forefront where the central label of India-China engagement was to establish sectoral engagement where domestic constituencies were supposed to play stronger roles through &lsquo;sister-city&rsquo; and &lsquo;sister-provincial&rsquo; engagements. In fact, the fundamentals of the sectoral engagement were crafted to expedite cooperation in areas, such as industrial parks, railways, credit and leasing, infrastructural development, skill development, etc.</p>

<p>Notably, under his &lsquo;make in India&rsquo; campaign, Modi had offered an open invitation to the Chinese companies to invest, collaborate and create conditions for sustainable foreign direct investment, skill development and for an export-led development model that could be the basis of a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo;. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner.</p>

<p>In fact, Modi&rsquo;s diction on economic engagement was not only to enhance the &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; but to enhance it further within a spectrum of &lsquo;sustainable partnership&rsquo; that will be comprehensive and wide-ranging. This inventive way of rephrasing China-India relations on Modi&rsquo;s part witnessed a serious setback during Xi Jinping&rsquo;s India visit when the troops of the People&rsquo;s Liberation Army (PLA) of China entered India&rsquo;s Chumar region in Ladakh, triggering a border standoff on the Western sector of China-India boundary in 2014. This indeed tested Modi&#39;s pulse: how to diffuse the tension while readying to receive Xi as a &lsquo;state guest&rsquo;.</p>

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<p>Modi successfully managed to persuade Xi to order the PLA to return to Chinese territory while affirming that &lsquo;even such small incidents can impact the biggest of relationships&rsquo;.</p>

<p>The urge to promote a &lsquo;developmental partnership&rsquo; has not died down on Modi&rsquo;s part. A similar trait is noticed in Modi&rsquo;s speech at the Xiamen BRICS summit that unveils his original intent to cooperate with China as a partner. Modi&rsquo;s BRICS plenary session speech was a memo on how China along with other emerging powers must view India&rsquo;s national developmental path more intently.</p>

<p>There were many shades to Modi&rsquo;s BRICS plenary speech, but the most notable one was&nbsp;how India is fast emerging as an open economy through its biggest ever reform of Goods and Services Tax (GST) that unites India as a unified single market. Modi pitched for India&rsquo;s proposition for a BRICS credit rating agency to pawn western rating assessments keeping in view that how India&rsquo;s stable and impressive GDP growth should be noted across the world without any prejudices. The effort behind Modi&#39;s speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. The intent was also to pass the message to the international community that India is on the move and China must take a note of that.</p>

<p>Underneath the intent was to reiterate Modi&rsquo;s &ldquo;India first&rdquo; approach of not only promoting Indian brand of development but also to urge the international community to acknowledge India better. This was a clear signal to China since Modi used the Xiamen BRICS forum to speak about this. Similarly, Modi&rsquo;s speech at the session on Dialogue for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Xiamen called for an &ldquo;inclusive world&rdquo;. Modi revealed an Indian approach to global governance by stating that the needs of the poor must be aligned to the global economic mainstream and here both India and China could play a constructive role. Will China really respond to this positive appeal from Narendra Modi?&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Hopes from Beijing in this regard are low though. China may genuinely be aiming to have good relations with India, but the global ambition of China to emerge as a &lsquo;super power&rsquo; equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. China under Xi Jinping is fast emerging as a different power where preserving China&rsquo;s national interests and having a higher stake in any bilateral relationship is the bottom line of China&rsquo;s foreign relations practice. India&rsquo;s rise under Modi as a stable power is seen in China today as a competing chapter in China&rsquo;s foreign relations trajectory in Asia if not beyond. Beijing has become more circumspect to matters relating India and would not like to offer many advantages to India, bilaterally or regionally.</p>

<p>The intent on China&rsquo;s part is pretty obvious: keep India engaged in neighbouring affairs which will define India&rsquo;s image as a limited power. In fact, unlike most of China&rsquo;s contemporary debate on foreign affairs, the debate on India in China remains relatively less known and less perceptible to the outside world. India is debated quite frequently though restrictedly, and unlike in the past, China&rsquo;s India debate is quite serious today.</p>

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<p>The fundamental notion of this Chinese seriousness is that &lsquo;India is rising, and rising steadily&rsquo;. Beijing sees India as a &lsquo;potential power&rsquo; in making which provokes China&rsquo;s rise in the region, more than any other powers. This Chinese perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a &lsquo;developmental partner&rsquo;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The Xiamen bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi was a much-needed one to restore normalcy in the relationship. However, the effort to rebuild India-China relations is nothing new, rather a past practice that has not really worked. Neither the novelty of the &lsquo;Panchsheel&rsquo; framework has worked nor the plethora of agreements that their relationship currently possess hold any cogency to the overall architecture of India-China relations. Since its formulation officially on 29 April 1954, the Panchsheel principles have been a matter of great relevance in international relations discourse. But that has not worked in India-China relations: the historic 1962 India-China war made it permanently a deceptive principle, mainly from the Indian outlook.</p>

<p>Therefore, to India, Xi Jinping&rsquo;s stress to reframe the current relationship within the principles of Panchsheel will hold little value. On the contrary, India&rsquo;s resolute foreign policy and national developmental path under Modi have bothered the Chinese most in recent times. India&rsquo;s resolute stance on the Doklam border tension has challenged the Chinese resilience as a power, one fact that Beijing would not forget easily. Therefore, the Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen may reinstate India-China relations temporarily, but it would have little lasting significance to change the fundamentals in this relationship.</p>


China sees India as a ?potential power? in making, and this perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a ?developmental partner?. ?

Rather than the Xiamen BRICS summit making to the recent headlines, it was the much-needed meeting between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping which captured more eyes. If the two and half month long Doklam border tension made Modi’s visit to China significant, it was Modi’s ingenious articulation on India-China relations while promoting India’s developmental narratives during the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen that was really impressive. The Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. × To begin with, the Modi-Xi meeting promised for a stable and forward-looking India-China relationship. The moot point of the Xiamen meeting was to offer a forward-looking narrative to India-China relations that have been on the downside due to the Doklam border tension. As India’s Foreign Secretary Jaishankar briefed, after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Modi was candid in telling Xi Jinping that “differences between India, China should not become disputes”. On China’s part, it was reported, Xi Jinping urged Prime Minister Modi to put the bilateral relationship on the “right track”. Xi was reported saying that China would be seeking India’s partnership under the five principles of ‘Panchsheel’. Stressing on “peace and tranquillity” as a pre-requisite for confidence-building in border areas, both leaders agreed that they can’t afford to “let India-China relations change” at a time when the world is changing. The move was to push ahead the relationship under a “forwarding framework” that was agreed between the two leaders during the Astana meeting this year. These statements appearing from Xiamen certainly indicate that there is a fresh approach to rebuild the relationship after the Doklam border tension. Still one needs to see whether these statements would be confined to their rhetoric best or would these really be translating into any action, resulting in a more nuanced relationship that would be 'forwarding' in nature. The effort to rebuild India-China relations in Xiamen is certainly a welcome step. The intent to have a ‘forwarding relationship’ complements their official ‘developmental partnership’ which was framed during Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2015. The essence of this ‘developmental partnership’ was to forge a closer economic partnership, enhancing the decade-old Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi holds a strategic significance in the overall context of current India-China relationship. It needs to be however asked: Will the Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi really reconstruct the relationship? Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time. × Xiamen meeting between Modi and Xi was a brief one. A thorough discussion to rebuild the relationship and any concrete outcome from this short meeting was hence unexpected. Both India and China need to note that they both must employ a pragmatic approach so that the relationship can be reconstructed even though tensions surrounding classical boundary disputes may come to haunt the relationship from time to time. This stated 'forwarding' partnership, however, can be built under an intensive economic cooperation and multilateral engagement. The effort should be made to expedite trade and economic engagement, which used to be the most stabilising factor in India-China relations over the last one and half decade. Similarly, multi-lateral engagement must be accelerated where forums like BRICS could allow them to rebuild confidence even though the tension re-emerges. In fact, the need of the time is to have an introspection of their past trajectory of engagement wherein both decided to design a ‘developmental partnership’. The proposal for a ‘developmental partnership’ was primarily a Chinese suggestion. In fact, China under Xi Jinping today has similar ‘developmental partnerships’ with a number of countries. But it was Narendra Modi who had initially sown the seeds of the partnership between the two countries during his visit to China as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Modi had identified China as an ‘economic hub’ and had ardently backed initially for a greater China-India economic engagement. The proposal for a ‘developmental partnership’ was primarily a Chinese suggestion. × As Prime Minister, Modi had elevated this by suggesting a ‘bilaterally global’ proposition and importantly by defining the relationship as ‘Inch (India and China) towards Miles (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy). It brought the developmental course to the forefront where the central label of India-China engagement was to establish sectoral engagement where domestic constituencies were supposed to play stronger roles through ‘sister-city’ and ‘sister-provincial’ engagements. In fact, the fundamentals of the sectoral engagement were crafted to expedite cooperation in areas, such as industrial parks, railways, credit and leasing, infrastructural development, skill development, etc. Notably, under his ‘make in India’ campaign, Modi had offered an open invitation to the Chinese companies to invest, collaborate and create conditions for sustainable foreign direct investment, skill development and for an export-led development model that could be the basis of a ‘developmental partnership’. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner. In fact, Modi’s diction on economic engagement was not only to enhance the ‘developmental partnership’ but to enhance it further within a spectrum of ‘sustainable partnership’ that will be comprehensive and wide-ranging. This inventive way of rephrasing China-India relations on Modi’s part witnessed a serious setback during Xi Jinping’s India visit when the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China entered India’s Chumar region in Ladakh, triggering a border standoff on the Western sector of China-India boundary in 2014. This indeed tested Modi's pulse: how to diffuse the tension while readying to receive Xi as a ‘state guest’. The intent for Modi was to engage with China on a wider spectrum of areas where India can have an equipoise advantage as an economic partner. × Modi successfully managed to persuade Xi to order the PLA to return to Chinese territory while affirming that ‘even such small incidents can impact the biggest of relationships’. The urge to promote a ‘developmental partnership’ has not died down on Modi’s part. A similar trait is noticed in Modi’s speech at the Xiamen BRICS summit that unveils his original intent to cooperate with China as a partner. Modi’s BRICS plenary session speech was a memo on how China along with other emerging powers must view India’s national developmental path more intently. There were many shades to Modi’s BRICS plenary speech, but the most notable one was how India is fast emerging as an open economy through its biggest ever reform of Goods and Services Tax (GST) that unites India as a unified single market. Modi pitched for India’s proposition for a BRICS credit rating agency to pawn western rating assessments keeping in view that how India’s stable and impressive GDP growth should be noted across the world without any prejudices. The effort behind Modi's speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. The intent was also to pass the message to the international community that India is on the move and China must take a note of that. Underneath the intent was to reiterate Modi’s “India first” approach of not only promoting Indian brand of development but also to urge the international community to acknowledge India better. This was a clear signal to China since Modi used the Xiamen BRICS forum to speak about this. Similarly, Modi’s speech at the session on Dialogue for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Xiamen called for an “inclusive world”. Modi revealed an Indian approach to global governance by stating that the needs of the poor must be aligned to the global economic mainstream and here both India and China could play a constructive role. Will China really respond to this positive appeal from Narendra Modi? The effort behind Modi's speech at BRICS was international: positioning India as a progressive economic power in making. × Hopes from Beijing in this regard are low though. China may genuinely be aiming to have good relations with India, but the global ambition of China to emerge as a ‘super power’ equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. China under Xi Jinping is fast emerging as a different power where preserving China’s national interests and having a higher stake in any bilateral relationship is the bottom line of China’s foreign relations practice. India’s rise under Modi as a stable power is seen in China today as a competing chapter in China’s foreign relations trajectory in Asia if not beyond. Beijing has become more circumspect to matters relating India and would not like to offer many advantages to India, bilaterally or regionally. The intent on China’s part is pretty obvious: keep India engaged in neighbouring affairs which will define India’s image as a limited power. In fact, unlike most of China’s contemporary debate on foreign affairs, the debate on India in China remains relatively less known and less perceptible to the outside world. India is debated quite frequently though restrictedly, and unlike in the past, China’s India debate is quite serious today. The global ambition of China to emerge as a ‘super power’ equal to the American supremacy will restrict the goodwill of Beijing towards India. × The fundamental notion of this Chinese seriousness is that ‘India is rising, and rising steadily’. Beijing sees India as a ‘potential power’ in making which provokes China’s rise in the region, more than any other powers. This Chinese perception will override any Chinese pragmatic thinking to cooperate with India as a ‘developmental partner’. The Xiamen bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi was a much-needed one to restore normalcy in the relationship. However, the effort to rebuild India-China relations is nothing new, rather a past practice that has not really worked. Neither the novelty of the ‘Panchsheel’ framework has worked nor the plethora of agreements that their relationship currently possess hold any cogency to the overall architecture of India-China relations. Since its formulation officially on 29 April 1954, the Panchsheel principles have been a matter of great relevance in international relations discourse. But that has not worked in India-China relations: the historic 1962 India-China war made it permanently a deceptive principle, mainly from the Indian outlook. Therefore, to India, Xi Jinping’s stress to reframe the current relationship within the principles of Panchsheel will hold little value. On the contrary, India’s resolute foreign policy and national developmental path under Modi have bothered the Chinese most in recent times. India’s resolute stance on the Doklam border tension has challenged the Chinese resilience as a power, one fact that Beijing would not forget easily. Therefore, the Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen may reinstate India-China relations temporarily, but it would have little lasting significance to change the fundamentals in this relationship.

Will India-China relationship take a different turn with Modi meeting Xi in Xiamen?

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for an organised and coordinated action on counter-terrorism, as he suggested 10 commitments through which BRICS leadership for global transformation can be achieved.</p>

<p>Speaking at the &quot;BRICS Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Dialogue&quot;, organised by China on sidelines of BRICS Summit as an outreach exercise, Prime Minister Modi also assured India&#39;s partnership with fellow developing countries, while pursuing its own aspirations for growth.</p>

<p>&quot;Whatever we do, will impact the world substantially. So, it is our solemn duty to make a better world -- brick by brick, or, through BRICS...,&quot; PM Modi said.</p>

<p>&quot;I had spoken about the BRICS driving the global transformation in the next ten years for it to be a Golden Decade. I suggest that this can be brought about with our proactive approach, policies and action,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Apart from PM Modi, leaders of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and five guest countries -- Egypt, Tajikistan, Thailand, Mexico and Kenya -- attended the dialogue.</p>

<p>Describing these countries as &quot;close and valued&quot; partners of India, the prime minister said he was pleased to exchange perspectives with them on the shared priority of achieving comprehensive sustainable development and thanked President Xi Jinping for bringing the countries together.</p>

<p>He said that BRICS, which represents almost half of the humanity, can achieve global transformation with a proactive approach, policies and action based on ten &quot;Noble Commitments&quot;.</p>

<p>The commitments include creating a safer world by organised and coordinated action on at least three issues -- counter terrorism, cyber security and disaster management.</p>

<p>The commitments suggested by the prime minister also included creating a greener world by taking concerted action on countering climate change through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance.</p>

<p>Other noble commitments were -- creating an enabled world, creating an inclusive world, creating a digital world, creating a skilled world, creating a healthier world, creating an equitable world, creating a connected world and creating a harmonious world.</p>

<p>Talking about India&#39;s national review of sustainable development goals as per the UN&#39;s &#39;2030 Agenda&#39;, the prime minister said the bedrock of the country&#39;s development agenda lies in the notion of &#39;Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas&#39; (with all, for everybody&#39;s development).</p>

<p>&quot;Our programmes are geared to accomplish these priority goals in a time-bound manner. To cite just one example, our three-pronged approach of providing a bank account to the unbanked, providing a biometric identity to all, and using innovative mobile governance solutions, has enabled direct benefit transfers to almost 360 million people for the first time,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Maintaining that India would like to see such domestic efforts buttressed by strong international partnerships, Prime Minister Modi said the country stands ready to play its part. &quot;India has a long tradition of partnerships with fellow developing countries, while pursuing our own aspirations for growth. At every step, we have shared our experience and resources across a range of sectors: from strengthening democratic institutions to deploying high-tech solutions for public good,&quot; the prime minister said.</p>

<p>He also noted that India had launched the South Asia Satellite for the benefit of willing regional partners in meeting their developmental goals in education, healthcare, communication and disaster management.</p>

<p>He also said that for over half a century, India&#39;s flagship initiative -- Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) -- has offered training and skill development to 161 partner countries from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific Island states.</p>

<p>&quot;And, in all of this, our &#39;no strings attached&#39; model of cooperation is driven purely by the requirements and priorities of our partner countries,&quot; PM Modi added.</p>


At the BRICS summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for an organised and coordinated action on counter-terrorism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for an organised and coordinated action on counter-terrorism, as he suggested 10 commitments through which BRICS leadership for global transformation can be achieved. Speaking at the "BRICS Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Dialogue", organised by China on sidelines of BRICS Summit as an outreach exercise, Prime Minister Modi also assured India's partnership with fellow developing countries, while pursuing its own aspirations for growth. "Whatever we do, will impact the world substantially. So, it is our solemn duty to make a better world -- brick by brick, or, through BRICS...," PM Modi said. "I had spoken about the BRICS driving the global transformation in the next ten years for it to be a Golden Decade. I suggest that this can be brought about with our proactive approach, policies and action," he said. Apart from PM Modi, leaders of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and five guest countries -- Egypt, Tajikistan, Thailand, Mexico and Kenya -- attended the dialogue. Describing these countries as "close and valued" partners of India, the prime minister said he was pleased to exchange perspectives with them on the shared priority of achieving comprehensive sustainable development and thanked President Xi Jinping for bringing the countries together. He said that BRICS, which represents almost half of the humanity, can achieve global transformation with a proactive approach, policies and action based on ten "Noble Commitments". The commitments include creating a safer world by organised and coordinated action on at least three issues -- counter terrorism, cyber security and disaster management. The commitments suggested by the prime minister also included creating a greener world by taking concerted action on countering climate change through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance. Other noble commitments were -- creating an enabled world, creating an inclusive world, creating a digital world, creating a skilled world, creating a healthier world, creating an equitable world, creating a connected world and creating a harmonious world. Talking about India's national review of sustainable development goals as per the UN's '2030 Agenda', the prime minister said the bedrock of the country's development agenda lies in the notion of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas' (with all, for everybody's development). "Our programmes are geared to accomplish these priority goals in a time-bound manner. To cite just one example, our three-pronged approach of providing a bank account to the unbanked, providing a biometric identity to all, and using innovative mobile governance solutions, has enabled direct benefit transfers to almost 360 million people for the first time," he said. Maintaining that India would like to see such domestic efforts buttressed by strong international partnerships, Prime Minister Modi said the country stands ready to play its part. "India has a long tradition of partnerships with fellow developing countries, while pursuing our own aspirations for growth. At every step, we have shared our experience and resources across a range of sectors: from strengthening democratic institutions to deploying high-tech solutions for public good," the prime minister said. He also noted that India had launched the South Asia Satellite for the benefit of willing regional partners in meeting their developmental goals in education, healthcare, communication and disaster management. He also said that for over half a century, India's flagship initiative -- Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) -- has offered training and skill development to 161 partner countries from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific Island states. "And, in all of this, our 'no strings attached' model of cooperation is driven purely by the requirements and priorities of our partner countries," PM Modi added.

The Ten Commitments of Modi

<p>Pakistan on Tuesday rejected the BRICS declaration saying that there was no &quot;safe haven&quot;&nbsp;for terrorists on its soil.</p>

<p>Pakistan&#39;s Defence Minister&nbsp;Khurram Dastgir&nbsp;dismissed the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/in-first-pak-based-terror-groups-named-in-brics-declaration-19862">BRICS declaration&nbsp;naming terrorist groups in the region by leaders of member countries at the BRICS Summit in&nbsp;China</a>&nbsp;on Monday.</p>

<p>&quot;We reject the declaration released by member countries at the&nbsp;BRICS Summit,&quot;&nbsp;Geo News quoted Dastagir as saying during a meeting of the National Assembly&#39;s Standing Committee on Defence.</p>

<p>Highlighting that 40 percent of Afghanistan is a safe haven for terrorists, the minister said Pakistan has taken action against all groups on its soil and only the remnants of some are left.</p>

<p>He further said that the Pakistan will consult regional partners and then proceed to the US for talks on the recent &#39;anti-Pakistan&#39; comments by US President&nbsp;Donald Trump.</p>

<p>Dastagir said this will result in better engagement as Pakistan is in favour of resolving all matters peacefully since any American action in&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;will cause instability in the region.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/brics-leaders-declaration-signed-at-the-summit-in-xiamen-china-19854">BRICS leaders on Monday unveiled the Xiamen Declaration</a> in which member countries unequivocally condemned terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations and called upon all states to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating the menace, including countering radicalisation, recruitment, and movement of terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters.</p>

<p>The Xiamen BRICS Declaration signed by the BRICS members specifically stated, &quot;BRICS express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/DAISH, Al-Qaida and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb ut-Tahrir.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;BRICS deplore all terrorist attacks worldwide, including attacks in BRICS countries, and condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever and stress that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism. We reaffirm that those responsible for committing, organising, or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable,&quot; it added.</p>


'We reject the declaration released by member countries at the?BRICS Summit,'?Geo News quoted Pakistan defence minister Khurram Dastagir as saying

Pakistan on Tuesday rejected the BRICS declaration saying that there was no "safe haven" for terrorists on its soil. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir dismissed the BRICS declaration naming terrorist groups in the region by leaders of member countries at the BRICS Summit in China on Monday. "We reject the declaration released by member countries at the BRICS Summit," Geo News quoted Dastagir as saying during a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defence. Highlighting that 40 percent of Afghanistan is a safe haven for terrorists, the minister said Pakistan has taken action against all groups on its soil and only the remnants of some are left. He further said that the Pakistan will consult regional partners and then proceed to the US for talks on the recent 'anti-Pakistan' comments by US President Donald Trump. Dastagir said this will result in better engagement as Pakistan is in favour of resolving all matters peacefully since any American action in Pakistan will cause instability in the region. BRICS leaders on Monday unveiled the Xiamen Declaration in which member countries unequivocally condemned terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations and called upon all states to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating the menace, including countering radicalisation, recruitment, and movement of terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters. The Xiamen BRICS Declaration signed by the BRICS members specifically stated, "BRICS express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/DAISH, Al-Qaida and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb ut-Tahrir." "BRICS deplore all terrorist attacks worldwide, including attacks in BRICS countries, and condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever and stress that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism. We reaffirm that those responsible for committing, organising, or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable," it added.

Pakistan rejects BRICS declaration, says no 'safe haven' for terrorists on its soil

The Xiamen Declaration was signed by the five BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa -- leaders

READ: Full text of the Xiamen Declaration

<p>Ahead of the upcoming BRICS Summit which will be hosted by China, Beijing skirted questions on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s participation amid the continuing standoff in Doklam.</p>

<p>China&#39;s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that preparations for the summit are in full swing.</p>

<p>&quot;All the preparatory work for the Summit is advancing in an orderly way. We are almost ready,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>India&#39;s external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, in a briefing last week, did not confirm Prime Minister Modi&#39;s participation in the five-nation summit.</p>

<p>In July, India&#39;s National Security Advisor <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/amid-sikkim-stand-off-indias-ajit-doval-meets-chinese-president-xi-jinping-in-beijing-18350" target="_blank">Ajit Doval met China&#39;s President Xi Jinping</a> , along with other representatives from the BRICS countries.</p>

<p>The Summit is scheduled to begin from September 3 to September 5 in the coastal city of Xiamen.</p>

<p>(With inputs from PTI)</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


In July, NSA Ajit Doval met China's President Xi Jinping , along with other representatives from the BRICS countries

Ahead of the upcoming BRICS Summit which will be hosted by China, Beijing skirted questions on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation amid the continuing standoff in Doklam. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that preparations for the summit are in full swing. "All the preparatory work for the Summit is advancing in an orderly way. We are almost ready," she said. India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, in a briefing last week, did not confirm Prime Minister Modi's participation in the five-nation summit. In July, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met China's President Xi Jinping , along with other representatives from the BRICS countries. The Summit is scheduled to begin from September 3 to September 5 in the coastal city of Xiamen. (With inputs from PTI)

Ahead of BRICS Summit, Beijing skirts questions on PM Modi's participation

<p>Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping &quot;conversed on a range of issues&quot; at an informal meeting of the leaders of the BRICS grouping during the ongoing G-20 summit in Hamburg on Friday.</p>

<p>Their meeting comes amidst a standoff between the armies of India and China in the Sikkim region.</p>

<p>The Chinese President appreciated India&#39;s &quot;strong resolve against terrorism&quot; in BRICS while PM Modi said there had been a &quot;positive momentum in BRICS under chairmanship of President Xi Jinping.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The two conversed on a &quot;range of issues&quot; at an informal gathering of BRICS leaders, Gopal Baglay, spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs said.</p>

<p>&quot;President Xi appreciated India&#39;s strong resolve against terrorism and momentum in BRICS introduced under India&#39;s Chairmanship,&quot; India&#39;s Ministry of External Affairs said.</p>

<p>PM Modi promised full cooperation and best wishes to the Chinese President for the upcoming BRICS Summit in China, PTI reported.</p>

<p>PM Modi urged leaders from the BRICS nations to show leadership in fighting terrorism and boosting global economy even as he asked the G-20 nations to collectively crackdown on terror financing, safe havens,&nbsp;&quot;support and sponsors&quot; of terrorism.</p>

<p>The Indian prime minister, who was the lead speaker on the theme of terrorism at the Leaders Retreat, presented an 11-point action agenda for counter-terrorism and emphasised the need to strengthen inter-governmental cooperation among countries.</p>

<p>&quot;BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy,&quot; Modi said.</p>

<p>&nbsp;He emphasised that the G-20 should collectively oppose terrorism financing, franchises, safe havens, support and sponsors.</p>

<p>The Indian PM also supported the &quot;collective voice&quot; against protectionism, especially in the spheres of trade and movement of knowledge and professionals. He also called for expediting efforts to establish a BRICS rating agency.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He emphasised that it was necessary to work together for sustained global economic recovery and also referred to the reforms carried out by his government, including implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).</p>

<p>&quot;GST implemented last week is India&#39;s biggest tax reform in last 70 yrs. It will&nbsp;help businesses,&quot; PM Modi said.</p>

<p>The BRICS bloc comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.</p>

<p>In a joint communique issued as the leaders gathered in a vast convention centre,&nbsp;the &nbsp;BRICS countries&nbsp;called on the G20 to push for implementation of the Paris climate deal despite Trump&#39;s decision last month to pull the United States out of it.</p>

<p>The G-20, which includes India and China, account for 80 per cent of the global economic output.&nbsp;</p>


The Chinese President appreciated India's 'strong resolve against terrorism' in BRICS while PM Modi said there had been a 'positive momentum in BRICS under chairmanship of President Xi Jinping'

Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping "conversed on a range of issues" at an informal meeting of the leaders of the BRICS grouping during the ongoing G-20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. Their meeting comes amidst a standoff between the armies of India and China in the Sikkim region. The Chinese President appreciated India's "strong resolve against terrorism" in BRICS while PM Modi said there had been a "positive momentum in BRICS under chairmanship of President Xi Jinping." The two conversed on a "range of issues" at an informal gathering of BRICS leaders, Gopal Baglay, spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs said. "President Xi appreciated India's strong resolve against terrorism and momentum in BRICS introduced under India's Chairmanship," India's Ministry of External Affairs said. PM Modi promised full cooperation and best wishes to the Chinese President for the upcoming BRICS Summit in China, PTI reported. PM Modi urged leaders from the BRICS nations to show leadership in fighting terrorism and boosting global economy even as he asked the G-20 nations to collectively crackdown on terror financing, safe havens, "support and sponsors" of terrorism. The Indian prime minister, who was the lead speaker on the theme of terrorism at the Leaders Retreat, presented an 11-point action agenda for counter-terrorism and emphasised the need to strengthen inter-governmental cooperation among countries. "BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy," Modi said. He emphasised that the G-20 should collectively oppose terrorism financing, franchises, safe havens, support and sponsors. The Indian PM also supported the "collective voice" against protectionism, especially in the spheres of trade and movement of knowledge and professionals. He also called for expediting efforts to establish a BRICS rating agency. He emphasised that it was necessary to work together for sustained global economic recovery and also referred to the reforms carried out by his government, including implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "GST implemented last week is India's biggest tax reform in last 70 yrs. It will help businesses," PM Modi said. The BRICS bloc comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In a joint communique issued as the leaders gathered in a vast convention centre, the BRICS countries called on the G20 to push for implementation of the Paris climate deal despite Trump's decision last month to pull the United States out of it. The G-20, which includes India and China, account for 80 per cent of the global economic output.

Standoff at home but Modi, Xi trade praises at G-20

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