BRICS Grouping and its Expansion

August 26, 2023

GS Paper II International Relations

Context:

Recently, during the 15th BRICS Summit, leaders decided to expand the grouping and admit six new members.

About 15th BRICS Summit:

Theme: BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.
Johannesburg Declaration: It emphasizes inclusive multilateralism, peaceful development, sustainable growth, and people-to-people exchanges while addressing global conflicts.

BRICS Expansion

New Members: Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are included as a new member in BRICS grouping, effective from 1st January, 2024.
Aim: Increasing BRICS influence in advocating for the interests of the “Global South.”

About BRICS

They are united by their common challenges, such as poverty, inequality and climate change.
Goal: To highlight the issues of the global South and to challenge the Western hegemony in the global system.
Significance: At present, the BRICS represents 41% of the global population, 24% of the global GDP, 16% of the global trade, 26% share in world land surface and has world populous and second most populous countries as its members.

India’s Interest in Expansion of BRICS
Ethiopia	India has supported Ethiopia’s position at the UN on issues from the Tigray crisis to the controversy over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Argentina	India has had a strategic partnership with Argentina since 2019
Egypt	Both signed a Friendship Treaty in 1955, Non- Aligned Movement, and India supported Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956.
Iran	India and Iran have had a strategic partnership since 2003.
Saudi Arabia	India signed a strategic partnership in 2010 and created a strategic partnership council in 2019.
UAE	In 2021, India participated in a quadrilateral meeting alongside the UAE, which has since evolved into the ‘I2U2’ grouping.

Possible Concerns in BRICS

Effectiveness of New Development Bank (NDB)
Geo-Political Confrontation
Fear of Sanction
Anti Western Bloc
Lack of Decision Making

Way Forward:

Strengthening the News Development Bank by bringing in more stakeholders and exploring the idea of a BRICS currency.
Expand the scope of cooperation: The BRICS countries need to increase their investment and commitment to platforms like NDB, Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) etc and explore new areas of cooperation, such as trade, technology, health, education, culture, and security.
Strengthen Cohesion and Coordination: BRICS countries need to overcome their differences and find common ground on key issues.

Conclusion

BRICS expansion would bolster India’s push for UN reform, more representation of the global south and the expansion of the UN Security Council. BRICS expansion can set an example for the reform of other global institutions established in the twentieth century.

News Source: The Hindu