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A stronger BRICS can promote peace, dev
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So, the BRICS members founded the New Development Bank for the developing countries. They looked forward to reducing their dependence on the US dollar, Faiz said.
Foreign ministry officials say Bangladesh will be included in the alliance through a certain procedure.
Bangladesh needs funds for development, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters before the BRICS summit.
“We don’t get a lot of funds from developed countries. The BRICS countries have money in reserves. Let’s not look at it from a geopolitical perspective,” he said.
International relation analysts say the inclusion of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will allow BRICS to act as a lender to the developing countries.
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa account for 40 percent of the global population and over 25 percent of the global GDP.
Faiz said unlike the World Bank and IMF, the New Development Bank will not attach strict conditions for granting loans to the developing countries.
Even though the New Development Bank follows the general principles of good governance in financial operations, borrowing would be much easier for the developing countries, he added.
Another analyst, requesting anonymity, said the BRICS member countries have the key elements to become self-reliant: manufacturing capability, technology, and a large market.
China and Russia are major players in the alliance, said the analyst, adding that one should not have any doubts that the alliance will eventually start talking about military cooperation.
However, there are certain challenges facing BRICS. China and Russia, with their authoritarian political systems, are anti-West. Democratic countries like India have close relations with the West. But there is serious enmity between China and India.
“China and India’s disputes can spell trouble for the BRICS,” said the analyst.
If BRICS and the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership become complementary to each other, the influence of the West may fall.
Prof Niloy Ranjan Biswas, who teaches international relations at Dhaka University, said introducing a common currency would not be easy for BRICS because of differences in the economies and foreign policies of the member states.
The European Union could introduce Euro because there are geographical contiguity and economic and political similarities among the countries. Yet, it took many years for them to launch the common currency, Prof Niloy said.

Mangoes
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“We have been trying for the last three years. This time, we saw success by ensuring good farming practices through many laboratory tests, and overcoming bureaucratic tangles,” he said.
The embassies of the two countries worked together to set the milestone, Ali said, thanking Kamrul Ahsan, Bangladesh ambassador to Russia, and Alexander Vikentyevich
Mantytskiy, Russian ambassador to Bangladesh.
Shamsul Wadud, regional additional director of DAE, said over 380 tonnes of mangoes were exported from Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts so far this year.
Russian authorities last year approved Bangladeshi mango samples for import for the next five years, he added.