Dialogue (QUAD) · Part 3

policy and the foundation of Act East Policy. Important initiatives of India ASEAN relations include Political-Security Cooperation, Economic Cooperation, Socio- Cultural Cooperation and Connectivity. In addition, financial aid schemes have also been established for socio-economic development. BRICS Not to Scale E W N S The acronym, BRICS stands for ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ) and was coined by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs in as part of an economic modelling exercise to forecast global economic trends over the next half-century. He predicted that by the year , Brazil, Russia, India and China would become bigger than the six most industrialized nations in dollar terms and would completely change the power dynamics of the last years. One of the major achievements of BRICS is the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) which has come into existence on July , with the vision of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries. The NDB helps the member countries to raise and avail resources for their infrastructure and sustainable development projects. Contingent Reserve Arrangement is another BRICS initiative that acts as a financial safety instrument for BRICS countries in the event of a financial crisis.