- The 2019 BRICS summit is the eleventh annual BRICS summit, which was held at the Itamaraty Palace, where the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located.
- The Brazilian capital Brasilia, hosted the BRICS summit for the second time.
- The theme of the event was “BRICS: economic growth for an innovative future”.
- India and the other BRICS economies aim to strengthen cooperation in digital economy, science, technology and innovation.
- A key focus of the BRICS summit this year will be on cooperation on countering terrorism.
- An idea for common crypto currency for mutual payments was also mooted.
- PM Modi called for an early opening of the Regional branch of New Development Bank (NDB) in India.
- He also requested BRICS countries and the NDB to join the global Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure.
New Development Bank (NDB)
- Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)
- The idea for setting up the NDB was proposed by India at the 4th BRICS summit in 2012 held in New Delhi.