Russia calls for strengthening of BRICS cooperation

Visit Russian Parliament Speaker Sergey Naryshkin on Friday called here for the strengthening of cooperation among BRICS countries and the consolidation of the trilateral cooperative mechanism among Russia, China and India.

Speaking to the media, Naryshkin said the Russia-India-China troika would be important in "ensuring international and regional stability and security" and the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping "reinstates once again the impossibility of creating a unipolar world".

"The Russia-India-China troika is becoming each year more weighty factor internationally in ensuring international and regional stability and security," he said. "I want to state that strengthening relations in the RIC is to strengthen security in the world."

The Russian speaker also said that Moscow is working with other BRICS countries on the possibility of "creating a parliamentary dimension of BRICS" countries.

BRICKS groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The BRICS summit is to be held in Ufa city in Russia in July 2015, with Russia being the rotating chairman.

"Within our chairmanship of BRICS, we are planning to have a parliamentary forum in Moscow in April," he said. "We are working on the agenda of the BRICS meetings and the parliamentary dimension."

The RIC countries held the 13th Foreign Ministers Meeting in Beijing earlier this month.

Naryshkin said Russian Duma, or lower house of parliament, had ratified the setting up of the BRICS Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, which were agreed upon during the last BRICS summit in Brazil in July last year.

The BRICS summit had agreed to set up a New Development Bank with an initial capital of 50 billion U.S. dollars and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. Endi