The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council presented the programme of parliamentary events.
Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev took part in the first meeting of BRICS Sherpas and Sous-Sherpas as part of Russia's chairmanship of the group. The purpose of the conference was to exchange views on major international issues as well as to discuss various aspects of mutual cooperation and preparations for upcoming events.
This was the first meeting attended by representatives of Egypt, Iran, the UAE and Ethiopia.
Konstantin Kosachev reminded the audience that the idea of the parliamentary dimension of BRICS was first proposed in 2011 by Brazilian parliamentarians. In 2015, Moscow hosted the first Parliamentary Forum of the group. “It took 12 years from the idea of the parliamentary dimension of BRICS to its institutional implementation,” he added.
The Deputy Speaker presented the programme of parliamentary events to be held under Russia's chairmanship, noting that the main focus will be on the 10th anniversary BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which will be held in St Petersburg in July.
The theme of the 10th edition of the forum is “The role of parliaments in strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security.”
According to the parliamentarian, chairs of parliamentary committees on international affairs from the BRICS member countries will meet in Moscow in April as part of the preparations for the Parliamentary Forum.
After the Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council presented the concept of this year’s BRICS Parliamentary Forum to the sherpas participating in the meeting, the representatives of the BRICS countries confirmed the relevance of the information for timely preparations for the forum. In their comments, the sherpas underscored the importance of expanding the parliamentary dimension of BRICS and expressed their readiness to contribute to the process.