BRIC foreign ministers agree on further cooperation

BRIC foreign ministers agree on further cooperation

16.05.2008, 12.23

YEKATERINBURG, May 16 (Itar-Tass) - The foreign ministers of Russia, Brazil, India and China have agreed on further development of cooperation and the broadening of the agenda in this format, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his Brazilian, Indian and Chinese counterparts in Yekaterinburg on Friday.

He said the next meeting in the BRIC format, as the informal association of the four states has been named, would be held on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, and the “second independent meeting” in India in 2009.

The sides also agreed to prepare a meeting of finance and economics ministers of their countries.

Conference of universities of St. Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai and Qingdao be held in St. Petersburg at the end of May.

A feature to the meeting in Yekaterinburg, which has been the third, was that BRIC ministers consultations for the third time “independently, without any tie to any international forums,” Lavrov said.

He stressed that Russia attaches much importance to cooperation in this format that is prompted by weight of these countries in the world politics and economy.

Over half of the population of the globe lives in these four countries, Lavrov said.

He said the consultations in Yekaterinburg centered on the rule of law in international relations, counteraction to challenges to global security, as well as issues in the world economy.

“All sides are interested in broadening the agenda of our meetings,” Lavrov said.

The common approach of Russia, Brazil, India and China is reflected in a joint communique adopted at the meeting in Yekaterinburg, he said.