Largest BRICS summit set to open in South Africa

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, August 20

Closely watched by the West, the run-up to the Leaders’ Summit of the five-nation BRICS — to be held between August 22 and 24 — will be the largest gathering of this grouping since it began life as a four-nation conglomeration in 2009 comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) with South Africa being a later addition.

The BRICS agenda is already not to the liking of the West. Not a single member of this grouping has opted to apply sanctions on Russia or condemn it at the UN. Further, BRICS has been talking up the concept of de-dollarisation which would weaken the US dollar’s role as the global default currency.

Now to the chagrin of the West, among the 23 countries that have applied to join BRICS are some the US has sought to weaken over the decades. In addition to nominal US allies like Argentina and Egypt, those that are in America’s cross-sights such as Iran, Cuba and Venezuela have also expressed interest.

Nations are aspiring to join BRICS in order to complete the “unfinished business” of the last century, said India’s BRICS Sherpa and senior MEA diplomat Dammu Ravi while addressing a BRICS seminar in Johannesburg.

The “unfinished business”, he explained, was aspiring for economic priority after having successfully fought for their freedom and independence from colonial rule.

“So as we experience economic growth, we should also ensure that it brings prosperity to all our people. As nations expand, the aspiration to be part of (BRICS) spreads. That is why 22 countries have lined up to be BRICS members,” he pointed out.

Ravi expects 40 to 45 delegations to attend the BRICS Summit. Interest is also high because this is the first in-person summit since the pandemic.

BRICS seemed to have taken in its stride the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Due to intense western pressure as well as observations by a local court, South Africa demurred from hosting Putin after having put up a brave front.

Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court and as South Africa has signed its covenant, it is obliged to arrest him. As a result, as was the case at last year’s G20 summit in Bali, Putin will join the summit virtually while the Russian delegation will be led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.