BRICS and SCO Summit Results

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summits completed the work in Ufa city, Russia, which took place on July 8-10.

BRICS

The importance of the BRICS summit lies in the great potential of developing countries and their serious impact on the global situation. “All member countries of the BRICS may offer an alternative way of development. And we feel the need for cooperation, especially in the economic field,” said President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

The main event of the BRICS summit was the creation of 200 billion USD first financial institutions in the framework of the associations. Also at the final press conference, Mr. Putin stated his intention to create a new payment system, an alternative of the Visa and MasterCard which currently serve 97% of the population in Russia.

In the framework of the summit a declaration was signed which reflected the issues that are in the focus of the international community such as the Syrian conflict and civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, problems of the environment, the fight against corruption, and drug trafficking.

In addition, the leaders called for acceleration of the UN and IMF reform, condemned unilateral sanctions, strongly condemned the crimes of the Islamic State (terrorist organization ISIS) and called for sides to abide by the Minsk Agreement in Ukraine.

SCO

Participants of the SCO summit (Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) showed that the organization aims to become a platform where traditionally bitter rivals can solve the world’s major political and economic problems. India and Pakistan, which are the main rivals in the region, began the procedure of entry into the organization as full members, and Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has had nearly three decades of debate about the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, joined the organization with the status of dialogue partners, alongside Cambodia and Nepal.

“The SCO expansion will radically change the geopolitical landscape of the Eurasian region and will connect SCO countries with the economic and political potential of the Arabian Peninsula with the help of Pakistan’s existing land and sea routes,” said Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif.

It was also reported that 11 states have shown interest in joining the organization in one form or another. One potential future member is Iran.

The leaders at SCO agreed to work together to fight terrorism and create a Development Fund and SCO Development Bank. They expressed support for the most ambitious infrastructure initiatives of China – the creation of the Silk Road economic zones, called for observance of the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and approved the strategy of the SCO’s development by 2025.

“Ufa brought together the heads of 15 states, who represented several continents: Eurasia, South America and Africa. Each of these countries has its unique development way, its model of economic growth, a rich history and culture. And the power and the enormous potential of the BRICS and the SCO lies on these countries diversity and conjunction of traditions,” said President Putin.

BRICS1 – the BRICS’s logo from google.com

BRICS2 – the BRICS Leaders and Leaders of the invited states, in Ufa from www.narendramodi.in

BRICS3 – the BRICS Leaders from google.com

BRICS4 – Ufa city’s logo at the BRICS and the SCO summits from dp.ru

BRICS5 – Ufa city during the BRICS and the SCO summits from dp.ru

Eka Karsaulidze