BRICS ministerial meeting begins in Russia

KABUL (Pajhwok): A two-day meeting of BRICS foreign ministers has commenced in the Nizhny Novgorod city of Russia, a media report said on Monday.

In addition to the "10" states, the meeting was being attended by representatives of countries - friends of BRICS, TASS news agency reported.

Improvement in the global governance system with an emphasis on strengthening the role of developing countries, conflict resolution and interaction on leading multilateral platforms, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Being chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the meeting started today and will continue tomorrow as well.

In 2006, Brazil, Russia, India and China created the group. South Africa joined in 2010, making it BRICS.

The group was designed to bring together the world's most important developing countries, to challenge the political and economic power of the wealthier nations of North America and Western Europe.

Currently, full members of the association include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. Around 30 more countries want to cooperate with BRICS in various formats.

kk/mud