BRICS expansion backed by China, Russia to be in focus next week. What it means

The expansion of Brics will be in focus when leaders of the 17-year-old grouping assemble for a summit in South Africa next week though the five member states are yet to reach common ground on the issue, people familiar with the matter said.

China is being seen as the main proponent of an aggressive push to expand Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to make the grouping a counterpoint to Western dominance of world affairs. It has been backed in these efforts by Russia, currently grappling with its diplomatic isolation because of the Ukraine war.

Some 40 countries have reportedly expressed an interest in joining Brics, with Argentina, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among them. If the expansion goes ahead, it will be the first since the grouping was enlarged with the inclusion of South Africa in September 2010.

Barring Russian President Vladimir Putin, other leaders of Brics states will gather in Johannesburg during August 22-24 for the 15th Brics summit, which is also expected to take up the contentious issue of establishing a common currency. Here too, the people said, there are gaps between the five members. Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, is set to participate by video conference.

The Indian side’s biggest concern regarding the expansion is that Brics shouldn’t become a China-centric grouping, especially at a time when relations between New Delhi and Beijing are at their lowest ebb due to the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). One of the people cited above said, “Certainly, the inclusion of a country like the UAE isn’t a problem but there are concerns about some countries whose names are being mentioned.”

As talk of expanding Brics gained ground over the last year, the Indian side sought to put the focus on changes that would give the grouping greater heft and coherence. “There was a need to streamline Brics processes and work on certain existing mechanisms that lead to duplication. Unlike other groupings, Brics still doesn’t have a fixed secretariat,” a second person said.

Work on these issues would put in place essential building blocks before any expansion, the people said. They added there is also no clarity on the process used to identify countries that are interested in joining Brics.

“There have been instances of a country sending a query about joining Brics and this has been treated as an application,” the second person said.

At the same time, India has been keen to emphasise that it is not holding up the expansion.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi recently said India has approached the issue with “a very positive mind and a positive framework” while rejecting “insinuations” that the country is against the enlargement of Brics.

“As mandated by the leaders last year, Brics members are internally discussing the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for the Brics expansion process on the basis of full consultation and consensus,” Bagchi said.

The creation of a common currency, first mooted in April by the deputy speaker of Russia’s Parliament, Alexander Babavov, is also being seen as a non-starter, especially since trade settlement in the national currencies of the member states is yet to take off. Moreover, there are concerns about the common currency being dominated by the yuan, the people said.

Harsh V Pant, vice president for foreign policy at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said India is walking a delicate line in the expansion process. If the expansion is driven by China, it will reinforce the perception in India that Beijing’s interest is not in working together to seek a greater voice for emerging players but “rather in making the Brics a platform that is anti-American in its orientation and shaped by Chinese priorities”, Pant wrote in a recent piece for ORF.