By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Member countries of BRICS have confirmed South Africa as host of its 15th summit scheduled to take place in Durban, later in August this year.
This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of the State of Eritrea Osman Saleh in Massawa, Eritrea on January 26.
Formed in 2006, BRIC was the creation of foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China; who met for the first time on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly same year for a harmonised corporation.
South Africa became a member in April 2011, when it participated for the first time, in the 3rd BRICS Summit held in Sanya, China.
Lavrov during the briefing, said strengthening regional identity in the developing regions of the world does not mean that multi-polarity is not happening in a global dimension, even as he insists that BRICS is a manifestation of global multi-polarity.
“This organisation unites five countries, with more than 12 others showing an interest in joining it. Developing links between BRICS and other countries will be a central topic at the upcoming summit of the five which is to take place in August in Durban, South Africa. The clock of multi-polar history is ticking in the right direction,” Lavrov said.
Since 2009, the BRICS leaders have convened 14 formal meetings and 9 informal meetings.
Earlier in 2013, the fifth annual BRICS summit was held in Durban, South Africa. It was attended by the head of state or heads of government of the five member states; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
In June 2009, the BRICS leaders held their first meeting in Russia, upgrading BRIC cooperation to Summit level.
