How things change within a year. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin made only a brief digital appearance at the BRICS 2023 summit in Johannesburg, despite host South Africa’s decision to provide him diplomatic immunity against an ICC-issued arrest warrant linked to the Ukraine war. As the host and Chair of the summit this year, Mr. Putin dominated the show. The three-day summit pushed news about the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia to the back pages.
Survival and a rejuvenation
The summit in Kazan, Russia (October 22-24, 2024) was the sixteenth in a series that began in 2009. Only four countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — participated in the first two summits. South Africa joined the group at the third summit in 2011, giving it its present name, BRICS. The first decade recorded several accomplishments, but the second decade began on a difficult note. The outbreak of COVID-19 put China on the defensive; then the bloody clash between Chinese and Indian troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 brought ties between two member-states to a new low; finally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Moscow’s confrontation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. All this made the grouping vulnerable.
Yet, it survived and showed signs of rejuvenation. The 15th summit’s decision on expansion led to five new members: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. A disclosure by Mr. Putin that 34 more nations are desirous of joining the grouping signifies that BRICS is headed upwards. Post-summit, the Russian projection was that this grouping represents the ‘Global Majority.’
This transition trajectory needs to be factored in while assessing the outcomes of the Kazan summit and their broad implications for the world. BRICS does not strive to create a new world order. It just wants to reform the present one so that it works for everyone. The grouping is driven by “the BRICS spirit”, which is imbued with eight specific characteristics: mutual respect and understanding; sovereign equality; solidarity; democracy; openness; inclusiveness; collaboration, and consensus. It is committed to promoting intra-BRICS cooperation under three verticals: political and security; economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation.
BRICS, initially a grouping of emerging economies, is now primarily a platform for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs). It is a combined grouping of the east and the south, juxtaposed to the Global North. There are notable anti-western tendencies within the BRICS, but its moderate members are committed to safeguarding its non-western orientation.
Pushing for comprehensive United Nations reform, the grouping devised at Johannesburg a careful formulation to support the aspirations of countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America, “including the BRICS countries” (meaning India, Brazil and South Africa) to play a more significant role in the UN, including its Security Council. This remained unchanged at Kazan; no further improvement was registered in favour of the three aspirants. None was expected as China’s reluctance to go beyond this formula is an open secret.
Another significant element was the grouping’s call for the elimination of unilateral economic sanctions. It depicts them as unilateral measures, aptly highlighting that they are contrary to international law and have far-reaching implications for human rights.
Verticals and their focus
On the first vertical relating to peace and security, the summit focused on the conflict in West Asia, to which several paragraphs were devoted in the declaration. Paragraph 30 has scathing criticism for Israel’s actions without any reference to the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas. The grouping has called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, unconditional release of all hostages, and the establishment of an independent ‘State of Palestine’. Israel, whose military dominance of the region continues, was not impressed. Its response came in the form of a direct air attack on Iran, a member of BRICS.
With Russia as the chair of BRICS, the grouping said much less about the continuing war in Ukraine. Members were content with reiterating their national positions and calling for the end of war through dialogue and diplomacy while underlining the need to address “the root causes” of conflicts.
On the second vertical of economic and financial cooperation, the common currency issue received maximum attention. The decision taken was along expected lines. The use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners will be facilitated further. However, the issue of deeper financial and banking cooperation will continue to be studied by the Finance ministries of the member-states.
With Saudi Arabia still hesitant about joining BRICS fully, initial expectations of a massive capital injection into the New Development Bank remain unfulfilled. Therefore, the leaders restricted themselves to suggesting further improvement in the bank’s workings and expressing their commitment to develop it into “a new type of MDB in the 21st century.”
The third vertical aims to strengthen people-to-people exchanges for social and economic development. Cooperation involving sports, culture, parliaments, civil society, business, and think tanks could have a beneficial long-term impact.
Finally, a crucial decision related to the grouping’s expansion. The outreach session was held on the last day, with the participation of 34 states. Having approved the guidelines and criteria, a new category of ‘partner state’ was created. Thirteen countries have been invited to join the grouping as partner states. Latin America: Cuba and Bolivia; Eurasia: Belarus and Türkiye; Africa: Algeria, Nigeria, and Uganda; Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam; and Central Asia: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Clearly, the third expansion will further augment the BRICS family’s share of the world population, international trade and GDP. Between now and the next summit in Brazil in 2025, most of these states may be included as partners, but they are expected to clamour for their early elevation as full members. Hence, the transition may continue for some more time.
From India’s lens
From India’s perspective, BRICS figures among the top six plurilateral groupings today — G-20, Quad, BRICS, BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), G-7 (where India has a nearly permanent guest status), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). BRICS helps India to promote multipolarity in the world, exercise its strategic autonomy, deepen its relations with Russia, and effectively advocate the interests and agenda of the Global South. In addition, the latest summit served as a useful platform for the first meeting in about five years between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. Bilateral negotiations resulted in an agreement on border patrolling arrangements and disengagement. Hence, this meeting, held on the summit’s sidelines, heralded the beginning of a rapprochement between New Delhi and Beijing. As China-India relations improve, the strategic space for India to deal with its western partners may also expand.
India attaches a high degree of importance to making BRICS an effective instrument for international cooperation. This nation has made a tangible contribution in this direction and is eager to continue doing so. Initial caution over expansion has now been replaced by a sober calculation that increased membership, if handled properly, will enhance the influence of this plurilateral grouping. Above all, BRICS allows India to serve as a bridge between the west and the east and between the north and the south, thus turning New Delhi into a geopolitical sweet spot today.
Rajiv Bhatia is a Distinguished Fellow at Gateway House, a former High Commissioner to South Africa, and the author of three books on foreign policy
Published – November 09, 2024 12:16 am IST
