BRICS was born as an idea by a New York-based economist Jim O’Neill, who projected the fast economic growth of Brazil, Russia, China, and India. The leaders of these four nations convened a meeting on the sidelines of the 61st UN General Assembly in September 2006, proposed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Three years after the first meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, China, and India’s defence minister, Russia initiated the first BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg.
ALSO READ: BRICS Summit 2023: Here’s what to expect as the new world order unfolds
In attendance at that summit were President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, President of Brazil Luis Lula da Silva, Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, and President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao.
They issued a joint statement setting goals for the group, which would be re-evaluated every three years. In that joint statement, the four nations outlined a common perception of ways to cope with the global financial and economic crisis.
ALSO READ: BRICS expansion could reset world politics, but picking new members isn’t straightforward
Fast forward to 2011 when South Africa, a young democracy, emerged as an economic outperformer in the Global South and took the BRICs, where the letter S now stood for its newest member.
With the addition of South Africa, the alliance started to witness growth, accounting for more than 20% of the global GDP and 26 % of the landmass. From then on, cooperation between the nations grew bigger, and talks of expansion began.
