Spotlight: Ufa summit gives strong impetus to BRICS cooperation

The BRICS summit held in the southwestern Russian city of Ufa has witnessed fruitful achievements and is expected to lead the bloc's cooperation in the near and far future.

With the adoption of several guiding documents like the Ufa Declaration and Strategy for the BRICS Economic Partnership, the summit showed the BRICS countries' resolution to deepen practical cooperation and push forward the democratization of international relations.

STRONG CONSENSUS

Held under the theme of "BRICS Partnership: A Powerful Factor of Global Development," the summit adopted a series of guiding documents to lay a solid foundation for the BRICS partnership.

Among these documents, the BRICS Ufa Declaration showed the consensus of the bloc members reached on various international key issues like the UN reform, the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II and the world economic situations, as well as regional affairs like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iranian nuclear problem, the Afghanistan problem and the Ukraine crisis.

Another important paper, the Strategy for the BRICS Economic Partnership, is the guidebook for bloc cooperation in sectors like trade, investment, mineral processing, energy, agriculture, scientific technology, innovation, finance and economics and so on.

According to leaders of the BRICS countries, relevant government departments in each country would take practical measures to implement the economic partnership strategy and create a roadmap for cooperation in economy, finance and investment by 2020.

The strategy is expected to guide the economic and financial cooperation of the BRICS, and finally achieve the general goals of an integrated market, multi-tier communication, land-air-sea inter-connection and cultural exchanges.

Besides reaching consensus on deepening cooperation in the sectors of aerospace, industry, energy, information communication technology and so on, consensus was also reached on cultural and information exchanges.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the BRICS foreign ministers said a joint official website would be established to broadcast information on the BRICS countries, especially on various activities held by the rotating host country.

Reflecting the general common interests of the BRICS countries in international key issues, the summit helped strengthen the ties between member states and forge a community of common interests based on the win-win cooperation principle.

SOUND COOPERATION MECHANISM

The BRICS cooperation is based not only on the consensus of member states, but also on the increasing number of comprehensive mechanisms created for various sectors and at all levels.

Led by the meeting of heads of state, the BRICS cooperation is complemented by high-level meetings on security and diplomatic issues, as well as on finance, trade, social and cultural sectors.

These different meetings substantiate the multi-level and comprehensive framework for the BRICS cooperation and help expand new cooperation areas.

During the 7th summit held here, the BRICS announced the launch of the BRICS' New Development Bank (NDB) and Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). As a milestone in the BRICS development process, this marks the institutionalization and normalization of the BRICS cooperation.

The NDB is expected to approve its inaugural investment projects in the beginning of 2016, taking an important step forward in the goal to deepen the BRICS cooperation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed Russia's readiness to mainly promote the cooperation in economy and finance, as well as to strengthen the interaction in sectors like energy, mineral products, information and communication technologies.

The 7th BRICS summit was held from July 8 to 9 under the rotating chairmanship of Russia. Forums of the BRICS trade union, civil society and youth were also held during the Ufa summit.

Vadim Lukov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's coordinator for G20 and BRICS affairs and ambassador at large, said Moscow would work during its chairmanship for the comprehensive pragmatic cooperation of all BRICS countries.

Lukov said that Russia would reinforce the BRICS' endeavors in strategic stability, cooperation in medical and health areas, exchanges on immigration issues, media cooperation, as well as youth and culture.

The BRICS countries believed that the bloc's increasingly stronger and comprehensive mechanisms would help boost its international status and influence.

DEMOCRATIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The democratization of international relations is one of the key topics of the BRICS summit. The five heads of state expressed their readiness and willingness on many occasions to participate in the global governance and democratization process of international relations.

During his keynote speech at the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced his confidence in the BRICS' future and proposed to deepen the partnership among the countries.

The willful use or threat of use of sanctions in handling international relations does not help solve problems, Xi said, urging all countries in the world to resort to peaceful and political measures to settle disputes.

For his part, Putin agreed that the BRICS should increase its influence in settling international issues, while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff suggested the BRICS improve its representation in international financial institutions.

These initiatives are reflected in the Ufa Declaration, which stressed that the BRICS should enhance coordination and cooperation within the G20.

As a matter of fact, the BRICS has already started to fulfill its promise of pushing forward the democratization of international relations. The ongoing preparation of the BRICS' NDB and CRA are cases in point.

The two mechanisms were established to help the BRICS participate in global governance and protect the interests of its member countries.

Meanwhile, their operation would promote the endeavor to make international relations more democratic, while simultaneously increasing the BRICS's influence when settling international financial affairs.

In the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the BRICS Ufa summit would make the bloc a more crucial factor in the global governance system. Endi