Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held an extraordinary meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) via videoconference as part of important events planned this year after Russia took over the chair-ship from Brazil

The nature of the world order that eventually emerges will determine the future of BRICS and not the other way round

The Program was approved by the NDB Board of Directors on April 30, 2020, and it is aimed at supporting the Government of India in its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and reduce human, social and economic losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak

In the global war against the novel coronavirus, emerging economies, many belonging to BRICS, have reached out to other countries humbled by the pandemic. India has reinforced its credentials as a rapidly emerging pharmacy of the world. As the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, India has recently exported the drug not only to SAARC countries and to its “extended neighbourhood” in the Gulf, but also to Russia, Brazil, Israel and the U.S

The second meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues under the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2020 took place via videoconference and was chaired by Natalya Stapran, Director of the Department for Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development

> The establishment of the BRICS Manufacturing Working Group (MWG) subsequently gave birth to numerous priority projects identified across a number of the sub-clusters of the manufacturing sector