- The two-day BRICS foreign ministers is set to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This meeting is being held in preparation for the 11th BRICS summit in November,2019.
- The meeting is expected to call for a united stand on issues surrounding 5G networks and data storage.
- The BRICS countries may also search for common ground on data localisation after the Reserve Bank of India had passed guidelines ensuring that financial data pertaining to Indians is stored only in Indian servers.
- The meeting will also make a special mention of the U.S. opposition to Chinese telecom major Huawei.
- India is yet to clarify whether it will include Huawei in its trials of 5G equipment due to start in September,2019.The issue had been raised on the sidelines of the Osaka G-20 summit but no decision has been announced.
- BRICS is an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the five fastest emerging nations.The BRICS Leaders Summit is convened annually.
- Together,BRICS accounts for about 40% of the world’s population and about 30% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) making it a critical economic engine.
- The 10th BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg,South Africa.The theme of 10th BRICS Summit was “BRICS in Africa:Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution”.
