BRICS Decides to Expand Developing Bloc

Date: 23 August 2023 - 21:58

News ID: ۱۱۸۶۴۷

JOHANNESBURG (Dispatches) -- Leaders of the BRICS bloc of leading developing countries have agreed mechanisms for considering new members, South Africa said on Wednesday, paving the way for dozens of interested nations to join the group which has pledged to champion the “Global South”.
Agreement on expansion could help lend global clout to BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - at a time when geopolitical polarization is spurring efforts to forge the bloc into a viable counterweight to the West.
More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials, and 22 have formally asked to be admitted.
They represent a disparate pool of potential candidates - from Iran to Argentina - motivated largely by a desire to level a global playing field many consider rigged against them and attracted by BRICS’ promise to rebalance the global order.
“The world is undergoing major shifts, division and regrouping ... it has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation,” said China’s President Xi Jinping, who has long pushed for the expansion of the BRICS group.
“Development is an inalienable right of all countries. It is not a privilege reserved for a few,” he told the summit earlier on Wednesday.
The block is home to about 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP.
Werner Hoyer, the head of European Investment Bank, warned the West on Wednesday it was in danger of losing confidence of the “Global South”, unless it urgently intensified its own support efforts for poorer countries.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke in favor of setting up a new common currency to be used between the BRICS members instead of the U.S. dollar.
“The decarbonization of our economies needs to be accompanied by dignified jobs, industrialization and green infrastructure and services for all,” he said.
He added that the BRICS New Development Bank in Shanghai, headed by former Brazilian president and ally of Lula, Dilma Rousseff, would be able to take on the challenge.
“The creation of a currency for transactions between the BRICS countries reduces our vulnerabilities,” Lula said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “We plan to hold the next BRICS summit in October 2024 in the city of Kazan.”
He announced that over 200 political, economic, and social events would be held under Russia’s BRICS presidency in the coming year.

Putin had to attend this year’s summit virtually as an international warrant is out for his arrest over alleged crimes in Ukraine.

All the other BRICS leaders attended this year’s summit, which ends on Thursday, in person.

During his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the creation of a BRICS satellite constellation, highlighting India’s moon mission.

He spoke just hours before India’s attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.

Modi called on BRICS to create a “space exploration consortium.”

President Xi Jinping urged the BRICS group to accelerate their expansion efforts.

“We should let more countries join the BRICS family and pool wisdom to make global governance more fair and reasonable,” Xi said.

The Chinese leader emphasized that the summit in South Africa is taking place during global turbulence and change.

He said BRICS should “bring to the world more certainty, stability, and positive energy,” despite the “cold war mentality is still haunting our world.”

Xi also urged BRICS countries to work closely together.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said BRICS were increasingly concerned that the global financial and payments systems are “being used as instruments of geopolitical contestation.”

“Global economic recovery relies on predictable global payment systems and the smooth operation of banking, supply chains, trade, tourism and financial flows,” Ramaphosa said at the summit’s open plenary session.

“We will continue discussions on practical measures to facilitate trade and investment flows through the increased use of local currencies,” he said.

Reducing the global reliance on the U.S. dollar is high on the agenda of the summit.

Putin said he wanted to end the war that he said had been “unleashed by the West and its satellites” in Ukraine.

“Russia decided to support people that fight for their culture, for their traditions, for their language, and for their future,” he said.

While BRICS’ political ambitions dominated coverage of the Johannesburg gathering, creating a common currency was also on the agenda.

During a leaders retreat on Tuesday night, they discussed reducing global reliance on the U.S. dollar.