BRICS Summit, 2020 will be hosted by
- (a)India
- (b)China
- (c)Russia
- (d)Brazil
Correct — C, Russia. The chairship of BRICS rotates among the members, and 2020 was Russia's turn. The 12th BRICS Summit was chaired by Vladimir Putin and had been planned for Saint Petersburg on 21 to 23 July 2020; the pandemic forced it online, and it was finally held by video conference on 17 November 2020. Read the rotation on either side of it and the pattern is clear — Brazil hosted the 11th summit at Brasilia on 13 and 14 November 2019, and India chaired the 13th on 9 September 2021, also by video conference. The paper was set in February 2020, which is why it asks in the future tense about a summit that had not yet happened.
- (a)India — India's turn came the following year — it chaired the 13th summit on 9 September 2021, held by video conference. India had also hosted earlier, at New Delhi in 2012 and at Goa in 2016.
- (b)China — China's summits in this cycle fall elsewhere in the rotation; it hosted at Xiamen in 2017 and chaired again in 2022. It was not the 2020 chair.
- (d)Brazil — The immediately preceding host — the 11th summit at Brasilia in November 2019. A candidate who remembers the most recent summit rather than the coming one lands here.
BRICS began as an investment-banking coinage. Jim O'Neill grouped Brazil, Russia, India and China as BRIC in 2001 to describe the emerging economies expected to dominate growth; the countries turned the label into a grouping, holding their first leaders' summit in 2009, and became BRICS when South Africa joined at the end of 2010. Chairship and the summit rotate annually among the members.
For a question set in early 2020, the reasoning is simply to know the rotation, and the safest way to hold it is by anchoring one summit and counting. Present-day position, because this has moved a great deal since the exam: BRICS now has ten full members. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined on 1 January 2024, and Indonesia became the tenth on 6 January 2025 — the first Southeast Asian member. So the familiar description of BRICS as a group of five is now out of date, and a 2020 answer about the chairship should not be carried forward as a description of the grouping.
- Russia chaired BRICS in 2020; the 12th summit was held by video conference on 17 November 2020.
- It had been scheduled for Saint Petersburg on 21 to 23 July 2020 and was postponed and moved online because of the pandemic.
- Brazil hosted the 11th summit at Brasilia on 13 and 14 November 2019; India chaired the 13th on 9 September 2021.
- BRIC was coined by Jim O'Neill in 2001; the first leaders' summit was held in 2009 and South Africa joined at the end of 2010.
- Membership has since grown to ten — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates from 1 January 2024, and Indonesia from 6 January 2025.
- 2001 — Jim O'Neill coins BRIC for Brazil, Russia, India and China
- 2009 — the first BRIC leaders' summit; South Africa joins at the end of 2010 and the grouping becomes BRICS
- 13 and 14 November 2019 — the 11th summit at Brasilia, chaired by Brazil
- 17 November 2020 — the 12th summit, chaired by Russia, held by video conference after the Saint Petersburg meeting was postponed
- 9 September 2021 — the 13th summit, chaired by India, also by video conference
- 1 January 2024 and 6 January 2025 — membership expands to ten with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia
Anchor one summit and count forward; the chair for the year in question follows from the rotation.
- Naming the most recent summit's host when the question asks about the coming one.
- Describing BRICS as a group of five today; it has ten members since January 2025.
- Confusing the founding summit of 2009 at Yekaterinburg with the first summit attended by South Africa in 2011.
As a host or chairship question for a named year, or as a statements item on membership, institutions and summit themes.
With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider the following statements : 1. The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009. 2. South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only
The founding facts behind the rotation. The first summit was at Yekaterinburg in 2009, not Rio, and South Africa was the last to join — a statement that has itself since been overtaken by the expansion of 2024 and 2025.
Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS: I. 16th BRICS Summit was held under the Chairship of Russia in Kazan. II. Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS. III. The theme of the 16th BRICS Summit was Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) I and II
- (b) II and III
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I only
Answer(a) I and II
The same rotation five years on, with Russia chairing again at Kazan and Indonesia in as a full member — the clearest illustration of how much of this topic has changed since the 2020 paper.
Which one of the following best describes BRICS?
- (a) A group of five nuclear powers
- (b) A group of five industrialized nations
- (c) A group of five major emerging economies
- (d) A group of five potentially strong UN Security Council members from the Countries of the Global South
Answer(c) A group of five major emerging economies
What the grouping was understood to be at the time, and a caution about repeating it today. The description of five major emerging economies was right in 2022 and the membership has since doubled.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The New Development Bank, established by the BRICS countries, has its headquarters at
- (a)New Delhi
- (b)Shanghai
- (c)Moscow
- (d)Johannesburg
Answer(b) Shanghai — with the Bank's first regional office opened in Johannesburg.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which country became the tenth full member of BRICS in January 2025?
- (a)Saudi Arabia
- (b)Argentina
- (c)Indonesia
- (d)Nigeria
Answer(c) Indonesia — joining on 6 January 2025 as the grouping's first Southeast Asian member.