Leaders from the world's top five emerging economies have proposed forming a joint development bank which they hope could rival the World Bank.
Representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - known as the Brics Group - have agreed to seek closer trade and currency links and reduce their dependency on Europe and North America.
The five countries now account for nearly 28% of the global economy.
The leaders' focus at a meeting in Delhi was on how to keep their massive economies going in the face of the global meltdown and the eurozone crisis, the BBC reports.
There was a consensus that the five economies hold a key to the recovery of the global economy and therefore should have a greater say in managing it.
Finance ministers from the countries will now examine a proposal to set up a Brics bank, which will fund projects in the developing world and work as a lending institution in times of need.
