The BRICS countries’ leaders are meeting this week for their annual summit. Leaders of the countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa have gathered in Johannesburg for their first in-person summit since the pandemic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin joined via video call instead of attending in-person because of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Minister is at BRICS instead.
What is BRICS?
The first BRICS summit took place in Russia in 2009. In 2010, BRICS expanded to include South Africa.
BRICS countries make up over 40% of the global population and about 25% of the global economy.
BRICS is considered an emerging rival to the G7 – a political forum made up of the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and the UK.
What’s on the agenda?
Along with strengthening ties between existing BRICS nations, the BRICS countries’ leaders will discuss expanding the summit to include other countries at their meeting.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Argentina are among the 40 nations that have expressed interest in joining the group. China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to support the call for new members.
The summit commenced on Tuesday and will run until Thursday.
