The foreign ministers meeting of the five emerging powers, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), was held through video conference. With Russia as the BRICS chair, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov led the participants, which included Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi.
The term, BRICS, is derived from a nature terminology used in geography and ecology to refer to the increasing importance and influence that these five countries are having in world affairs. BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The term BRIC was coined by Jim O'Neill who is a former economist of Goldman Sachs. Jim O'Neill, looking to explain the growing economic potential of these countries in 2001, used the acronym "BRIC" which meant Brazil, Russia, India and China. The first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in Russia. In 2010, South Africa was invited to join BRIC after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
The world is changing rapidly. The global economy, once dominated by the West and Japan now constitutes of the BRICS nations. BRICS is a bloc that comprises 42% of the world's population, has 23% of the global GDP, and around 17% of the world trade.
The Chairmanship of the BRICS is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S. The rotating country assumes the role of Chair for one year, and holds meetings of Heads of State or Government of BRICS countries.
During the 12th Summit, held in November 2020 in the backdrop of the 75th Anniversary of UN and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders would be discussing intra-BRICS cooperation and key issues in the global context, including the reform of the multilateral system, measures to mitigate the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation in Counter Terrorism, trade, health, energy and people to people exchanges.