BRICS: Xi asks members to shelve differences

Xiamen (China): Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday asked BRICS members to shelve their differences and accommodate each other's concerns by enhancing mutual trust and strategic communication, as he opened the 9th annual summit of the five member emerging economies here. The opening ceremony of the three-day BRICS summit started with BRICS Business Council in this southeastern Chinese city in Fujian province amid a downpour triggered by typhoon Mawar which had caused widespread disruption to the summit preparations and the city's traffic. The typhoon also caused considerable disruption to the flights. BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - is a grouping of the five emerging economies.

The BRICS summit brings together the leaders of these countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Michel Temer, South African President Jacob Zuma and Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit. In his speech broadly focusing on enhancing cooperation between the BRICS members, Xi said, "construction of a tall building starts with foundation. We have laid the foundation and put in place the framework for BRICS cooperation." Outlining BRICS cooperation in the last 10 years, he said treating each other as equals and seeking common ground while shelving differences is important part of cooperation.