Unity in bloc's diversity

The BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa, in March 2013 marked the first five years of the group. During those five years BRICS members expanded their areas of concurrence in terms of national interests and strengthened the status of the group as a meaningful inter-civilizational macrostructure.

Thanks to its members' common interests and global goals, BRICS has become a political identity and established itself as an international association. And deeper and comprehensive cooperation among BRICS members is boosting the trend toward a multipolar world.

The world economy has been passing through rough times, which has forced the growth rates of BRICS countries to slow down too. The global economy may be moving toward a "post-BRICS" world marked by weaker investor interest in developing economies, but despite that it is too late to disregard BRICS. Attacks on BRICS, attempts to form parallel and competing blocs only go on to prove that the group has become a real factor in world economy and politics.