China will host the meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs on May 19 through video conference. The meeting will be hosted by China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and attended by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Alberto Franco França and Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov.
The meeting will prepare the ground for the 14th BRICS summit. Chinese Foreign Ministry said, as the BRICS chair for 2022, China looks forward to enhancing communication and coordination with fellow BRICS partners on the new challenges of the current international situation and major international and regional issues.
India has handed over the BRICS Chairmanship to China from January 2022. The theme for BRICS 2022 is ‘Foster High-Quality BRICS Partnership Usher in a New Era for Global Development’. A total of 25 events have been planned. India will host five events this year as part of BRICS Science Technology Innovation Steering Committee, the Science and Technology ministry said in a statement in January this year.
BRICS is a significant alliance that brings together the world’s largest growing economies, accounting for 41% of the global population, 24% of global GDP, and over 16 % of global trade. Over the years, the BRICS countries have been the key engines of global economic growth.