Photo: Ricardo Stckert/Presidency of Brazil/AFP / copyright
The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, receives his counterparts from China and Brazil, Xi Jinping and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for a meeting that will last until Thursday, August 24.
Lula da Silva and Xi were the first to arrive in the South African economic capitalwhile Modi and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, who is representing Moscow, arrived throughout the morning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for the war in Ukraine, so he will participate in the meeting via videoconference.
war in ukraine
The 15th BRICS Summit comes at a time of division on the international scene, which has been amplified by the Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic.
Neither South Africa nor China nor India have condemned Russia’s offensive. Brazil has refused to send weapons to Ukraine or to impose sanctions on Moscow. And Ramaphosa insisted on Sunday on his non-alignment policy, assuring that South Africa “will not be drawn into a competition between world powers.”
In a statement published in South African media on Monday, Chinese President Xi said the leaders at the summit will urge the international community to “promote a greater role for the BRICS cooperation mechanism in global governance.”
new members
The block, born in 2009, currently represents 23 percent of world GDP, 42 percent of the population and more than 16 percent of global trade.
Despite the disparity of their members, the BRICS agree on the demand for a more inclusive global political and economic balance, particularly vis-à-vis the United States and the European Union.
The group seeks to extend its influence and considers opening up to new members. At least 40 countries have expressed their desire to join the club, including Argentina, Iran, Bangladesh or Saudi Arabia, and 23 of them have already formally applied for membership.
But the five current members, geographically distant and with uneven growth economies, have “divergent views on the countries that should join the bloc and the conditions” for access, Jannie Rossouw of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg told AFP.
South Africa has been working this year on a list of “guidelines” for the entry of new members, said its foreign minister, Naledi Pandor.
China–India rivalry
The question of expansion divides India and China above all, the two strongest economies in the bloc. Beijing wants to extend its influence, while New Delhi is wary of its regional rival’s intentions.
“In the long term, the China-India rivalry is probably the biggest challenge facing the BRICS,” Rossouw said.
#BRICSza| Arrival of the President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), HE Xi Jinping in South Africa to participate in the XV BRICS Summit from 22-24 August 2023, in Sandton, Johannesburg. #BRICS | #BetterAfricaBetterWorld pic.twitter.com/FE8Y1WRSq2
— BRICSza (@BRICSza) August 22, 2023
“Friends of the BRICS”
In addition, the decision-making process within the bloc, which requires consensus, constitutes a “major hurdle” on the question of possible expansion, stresses Jakkie Cilliers of the Pretoria Institute for Security Studies.
During the summit, another 50 leaders will attend a program called “Friends of the BRICS”, a sign of the interest aroused by the bloc. Pretoria also announced the arrival of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.