Russia is preparing to host the 16th edition of the BRICS Summit, for the first time in its expanded version since its formation in 2009. The five founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa whose initials became the acronym for the platform will have new members attending the October 22-24 event at Kazan, in Russia’s Tatarstan region.
Leaders from the countries granted full-membership including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates representing major emerging economies in the world collectively holding a significant share of the global GDP, trade and newly 40 percent of world’s population. In addition, as hosts Russia has extended invitation to over 20 countries to participate, which in turn could lead to further consolidation and growth of this grouping.
A section of the strategic community characterizes the grouping to be an ‘anti-Western’ construct driven by China and Russia. It may be ironic that the initial suggestion of BRIC came from Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs, who in 2001 visualized that Brazil, Russia, India and China were emerging as economic powers that could drive global growth in the coming decade. That calculation came right, and it was estimated that during the decade ending 2011, these four countries share in global output rose from single digit to 19 percent.
Russia took the lead in organizing the first Summit in 2009 at Yekaterinburg and a year later invited South Africa into this fold. Since then, the platform organized itself to emerge as a global voice. While working for changes in the existing global governance system, it started to work to build an alternative economic structure. The idea was to promote mutual growth and support by reducing the dependence of developing economies on Western-dominated institutions.
The composition of expanded BRICS shows that countries from different regions in addition to the original five are now part of the grouping. Voices from the global South, from Africa to West Asia represent diverse political and economic systems, which provide both challenges and opportunities for members to cooperate and work together on key issues –climate change, security and trade – forming global discussions. This also reflects how nations not part of the Western groupings have found an avenue to articulate country-specific viewpoints that are at times relegated in international fora.
Hosts Russia, who assumed the Chairmanship of BRICS Plus has identified three priority areas in the domains of Policy and Security; Economy and Finance; and humanitarian and cultural spheres. The theme of the Summit is Strengthening Multilateralism for a just global development and security.
The Summit is being held at a juncture when the world faces heightened tensions and global unrest following two wars – Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas -in separate regions. Meanwhile, among the leaders to attend the expanded will be the President of Iran Massoud Rajavi.
PM Modi to attend the Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the Summit. India holds a significant position in the grouping and is seen as a crucial link. India has been an active member of BRICS since its inception and had a say when the inclusion of new members. The larger focus for New Delhi is sustainable development and the role of technology in this journey while tackling common challenges in the form of poverty and inequality. Another area of interest is reforms in global governance architecture.
Prime Minister Modi will be there when the Summit opens on October 22 and attend the two main sessions on the second day. The leaders are expected to adopt the Kazan Declaration and return a day before the meeting ends on October 24.
President Putin on BRICS outlook
Ahead of the Summit, President Vladimir Putin hosted international media for a press conference in which he maintained that BRICS was never meant to be against anyone but a formation for development.
He was quoted to have said: “BRICS was never meant to be against anyone. The Indian Prime Minister put it aptly, he has said that BRICS is not an anti-Western group, it’s just a non-Western group, and this holds a lot of water. BRICS does not counterpose itself to anyone. It is a group of nations that have shared values and goals for development.”
President Putin said the BRICS New Development Bank was the only functioning institution working for multilateral development, investing in technology and infrastructure in countries that are part of the Global South.
Over the years the effort by BRICS to develop its development bank to finance projects work towards an alternate system of finance and settle trade in local currencies led to an interpretation that the move it intended to replace the dollar system.
In a different context, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar maintained that India never actively targeted the U.S. dollar and was not part of any political, economic, or strategic policy. However, there are issues arising out of policies pursued by the United States which made it difficult for New Delhi to have dollar trade with some countries requiring a workaround.
BRICS remains a platform for emerging economies to reshape global governance, enhance cooperation, and assert their interests in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment. Its expansion and India’s active role underscore the need to accommodate diverse voices in international discussions, amid existing challenges.
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