BRICS to form youth movement by year’s end - Russian Youth Union

NEW DELHI, March 30. /TASS/. The BRICS emerging market nations will complete setting up a youth movement by the end of this year, Pavel Krasnorutsky, chairman of the Russian Youth Union, said on Monday. "We are planning to form BRICS ‘national youth units’. We are sure we can complete this process in 2015," Krasnorutsky told TASS. "Our task is to establish informal relations with young leaders of these countries." The assembly of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold a youth summit in the Russian city of Ufa in late July. "This and other issues will be on the agenda," he said. "We will also discuss priority areas of co-operation and will probably divide them among the countries," he said, adding that the units were expected to hold at least three events annually in each country. Besides, "we are working on announcing at the BRICS youth forum in Ufa plans to hold years of youth exchanges between Russia and India similar to years of youth exchanges between Russia and China [in 2014-2015]," Krasnorutsky said, noting that they could take place either in 2016-2017 or in 2017-2018. "This will give impetus to bilateral youth exchanges," he said. "It is time to bring together young people from those countries which consider themselves like-minded, have been together historically but lost those links because of certain political and other external actions." Last week, India's capital city, New Delhi, hosted the inaugural Russia-India youth summit, organised by the Russian Youth Union. Krasnorutsky, opening the meeting, said the second such forum would take place in Russia in the autumn of this year. There are also plans to hold a BRICS youth forum in South Africa by the end of 2015. South Africa President Jacob Zuma has already confirmed his participation. Read more