AFP Brazilian President Lula arrives in South Africa for the BRICS Summit
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 11:05
Leaders of the BRICS countries, the partnership of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are meeting in South Africa starting today. More than thirty other countries are also participating and want to join the organization. However, India in particular also has objections and there are also different interests in other areas. An overview of the most important countries:
Brazil
The largest country in South America is in favor of a large partnership and hopes to form a counterpart to the G7 with a so-called ‘BRICS plus’, which mainly consists of rich, Western countries: Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. President Lula now thinks the G7 is an outdated club that no longer does justice to the relationships in the world. He also hopes to talk about an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in his view contributes to “countries sinking”. A currency that could eventually compete with the dollar is also a topic of discussion.
Russia
A major absentee from the summit is President Putin. He is under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Foreign Minister Lavrov has been sent in his place, but Putin is present at the consultations via a video link. Russia’s relationship with many countries has cooled since the war in Ukraine, so the country is keen to show that it still has allies. Russia is also in favor of BRICS expansion and will almost certainly insist that Belarus, a staunch ally in, among other things, the war, be accepted as a member.
What do the invited countries want?
Particularly the shared frustration about the high threshold at the Western World Bank for obtaining sustainable aid is driving the invited countries to join BRICS-plus. An extensive analysis of their motivations can be found here:
India
The biggest criticism of expansion comes from New Delhi. India fears that the inclusion of countries that cooperate intensively with China will weaken its own influence within BRICS. China and India compete for influence in their own region and have a tense relationship. Yet India is not against any new cooperation; the country is there for more intensive cooperation between emerging countries and developing countries. Major difference between India and other core members Russia and China: India has good ties with the United States and will therefore not agree to a statement that is (too) highly critical of the US.
China
China is the strongest supporter of an expansion of the BRICS group. The country says it advocates “a fair world order”. In practice, this means, among other things, that Beijing hopes to increase its influence in the world, at the expense of the United States. It is only the second time this year that President Xi has traveled abroad. It shows how important this meeting is for China. The country will also want to strengthen ties with South Africa. From an economic point of view, South Africa is already a very important partner. For example, 12 percent of all exports in South Africa go to China and more than 23 percent of all products imported into the country come from China.
South Africa
The host maintains good ties with Russia and the United States and, like India, will therefore not easily agree to statements directed against the US. The country is for a large BRICS group and invited dozens of African leaders so that the African interest is better served. South Africa, like Brazil and others, wants to explore the possibility of creating its own currency that can be an alternative to the dominant dollar.
About 40 countries have said they are interested in joining the BRICS group, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said. Of these, 23 have a specific interest, he says. These include Argentina, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. The coming days should become more clear about the future of the BRICS group.
2023-08-22 09:05:32
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