11th BRICS Summit

PM Modi attended the 11^th BRICS summit and invited business leaders from BRICS nations to invest in India, especially in infrastructure development.

Highlights of the summit

• The BRICS countries discussed in creating a common crypto currency for mutual payments. The step was being discussed to reduce the share of payments in USD.
• PM Modi proposed the first meeting of BRICS Water Ministers in India.
• India is to host BRICS Digital Health Summit. The Summit will focus on innovative solutions to healthy lifestyle
• India will also host BRICS Youth summit that will focus on hackathon, startups and games
• Also, BRICS workshop on digital forensics is to be held in India

BRICS Business Council

The BRICS Business Council created a road map to achieve 500 billion USD trade target among BRICS nations by next summit. An agreement was signed between New Development Bank and BRICS Business Council to achieve this.

India-Russia

PM Modi met his Russian counterpart Mr Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 11^th BRICS summit.

• During their meet, the leaders noted their satisfaction that the 25 billion USD trade target between the countries to be achieved by 2025 has already been achieved.
• Also, the leaders discussed about the first bilateral regional forum to dismantle the barriers of trade at regional level.

India-Brazil

PM Modi met the President of Brazil Mr Jair MEssias Bolsonaro and invited him to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations, 2020.

• After the meet, PM Modi outlines areas of animal husbandry, agriculture, post-harvest technologies and biofuels as areas of potential
• The leaders also discussed about space and defense sectors

India-China

PM Modi met the Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 11^th BRICS summit.

• The countries have agreed to hold the next round of border talks after the leaders’ meet. The 21^st round of border talks were held in 2018 by Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart.
• The Chinese President appreciated the 2^nd Informal Summit in Chennai. He also invited PM Modi for the 3^rd informal summit to be held in China in 2020.
• The leaders reviewed the preparations for celebrating the 70^th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019