Context
- A joint communiqué released at the BRICS 2017 summit – the Xiamen declaration.
Highlights of the Xiamen declaration
- It says the member countries will work together to promote the most effective use of fossil fuels and wider use of gas, hydro and nuclear power.
- The BRICS nations decide to boost their role in global health governance, especially through the World Health Organisation and other such United Nations agencies.
- The BRICS nations are in mission-mode to eradicate poverty; to ensure health, sanitation, skills, food security, gender equality, energy, education.
- India and four other BRICS nations pledge to abide by the principle of utilising outer space for peaceful purposes.
- The 5-nation BRICS economic bloc pitches for concluding the long-pending IMF quota reforms by 2019 to give more say to developing nations in the multilateral lending agency.
- It expressed concern about the regional security situation and listed some groups as sources of violence.
- These included Pakistan-based groups — Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — as terror organisations.
- This removed a key irritant in Indo-China ties and stepping up the fight against global extremism.
- BRICS countries will strive towards broad partnerships with emerging markets and developing countries, and pursue equal-footed and flexible practices and initiatives for dialogue and cooperation with non-BRICS countries, including through BRICS Plus cooperation.
- BRICS countries have resolved to promote the development of BRICS local currency bond markets and to jointly establish a BRICS local currency bond fund and also to facilitate financial market integration.
- BRICS have resolved for creation of a BRICS rating agency to cater to financing needs of sovereign and corporate entities of developing countries.
- They will also encourage explorations toward the establishment of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks.
- BRICS Agriculture Research Platform is proposed to be established in India.
- Importance of people-to-people exchanges in promoting development and enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation among BRICS peoples was also emphasized.
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