1st BRICS Ministerial meeting held with expanded membership in Russia
Summit and Conference
5 min read
The first ministerial meeting of the BRICS group of countries with the newly added members took place in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod on 10 June 2024. The two-day (10 and 11 June 2024) meetings of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations was hosted by Russia, as it is the current chairman of the BRICS.
Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia & Ethiopia Join first BRICS Ministerial meeting
At the 15th BRICS summit meeting, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 22 to 24 August 2023, six countries—Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—were invited to join the BRICS group.
Argentina declined to join the group, while Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined the group on 1 January 2024.
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were already members of the group.
Russia took over the chairmanship of BRICS from South Africa on 1 January 2024.
Russia will host the 16th annual BRICS summit from 22 to 24 October 2024. Leaders of the member countries are expected to attend the summit.
The foreign ministers' meeting of the member countries was held in Russia to prepare for the forthcoming 16th annual BRICS summit meeting.
Dammu Ravi led the Indian delegation
Since Dr S. Jaishanker was appointed the External Affairs Minister on 10 June 2024, India officially had no External Affairs Minister at the time of the start of the foreign ministers meeting. Hence, India was represented by Dammu Ravi, the Secretary of (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
The BRICS foreign Minister meeting was hosted by the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
Next Meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers
The next BRICS foreign ministers' meeting will be held on the margins of the 79th United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York starting on 10 September 2024. Brazil will host the meeting as it will be the next chairman of BRICS after Russia.
About BRICS
BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation that originally consisted of four countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
British economist Jim O'Neill, working for Goldman Sachs, coined the acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) in 2001. He believed that these countries would dominate global economic growth by 2050.
The first foreign minister’s meeting of the BRIC countries was held in New York in 2006.
The first summit meeting of the leaders of the BRIC countries was held in June 1996 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
The group's name was changed to BRICS after South Africa joined the group in 2010.
With the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the total number of BRICS members has reached 10.
The BRICS countries are economically an important group in the world. Around half of the world's population lives in BRICS countries. Their contribution in world crude oil production and export is around 40 per cent..They contribute to around 25 percent of the global economy and their contribution in global trade in goods is around two-fifth.
BRICS has no permanent headquarters, and the chairmanship rotates amongst the member countries in alphabetical order annually.
Thus, after Russia, Brazil will be the next chairman of BRICS.
