Putin managed to get 22 heads of state, 15 other nations and 6 heads of international organizations, including the UN Secretary General, to attend to his invitation to attend the XVI BRICS+ Summit. This grouping of nations, today, represents the best interests of the “Global South.”
Emerged 15 years ago by the founding nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – it has earned a great deal of legitimacy as the voice of countries marginalized from international power centers. This was demonstrated at the XV Summit with the entry of 5 new members and the requests of almost 20 more. Now, in Kazan, new partners were added, all willing to reinforce unity in the face of the hegemonic ambitions of the great Western powers. It is not against them, but you have launched a campaign against the BRICS.
It does not matter the capricious way in which some try to present it to diminish its importance. Together they add up to a global GDP of 60 million million dollars compared to 50 million million dollars for the G7, equivalent to 36% of global GDP compared to 29%. It is logical, the powerful entity includes China, which alone has 18% of the world’s GDP and contributes 30% to the growth of the global economy. Consequently, it is useless to try to ignore that the BRICS+ are a strategic engine of global economic growth. Far from being dampened, this effect will constantly increase.
The so-called emerging countries look to the BRICS+, and within it to China with a consistent policy of cooperation with the Global South as witnessed, among other actions, by the impressive Belt and Road program. From January to September 2024 alone, Beijing’s foreign trade reached 648 billion dollars with the group at an annual growth rate of 5.1%. Xi Jinping described the Summit as a “milestone” and called for deepening collaboration and striving for world peace.
The BRICS Development Bank, the first among emerging nations, is an instrument to support development programs, having financed 90 projects for 38 billion dollars in the Global South. It also promotes the use of national currencies, while creating its own.
Never mind the sterile attempts to minimize the BRICS. Objectively, both Putin and the BRICS+ scored a significant geopolitical success.
