Leaders of growing BRICS group gather

Leaders of the growing BRICS group of developing nations were set to gather in Rio de Janeiro Sunday, calling for reform of traditional Western institutions while presenting the bloc as a defender of multilateralism in an increasingly fractured world.

- REUTERS

With forums such as the G7 and G20 groups of major economies hamstrung by divisions and the disruptive "America First" approach of US President Donald Trump, expansion of the BRICS has opened new space for diplomatic coordination.

"In the face of the resurgence of protectionism, it is up to emerging nations to defend the multilateral trade regime and reform the international financial architecture," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a BRICS business forum Saturday. BRICS nations now represent over half the world's population and 40% of its economic output, Lula noted.