By Carien, du, Plessis, Krishn and Kaushik
JOHANNESBURG – BRICS leaders are considering rules for admitting new members to the developing-country bloc at their summit on Wednesday, even as divisions over future direction risk undermining their ambition to give the “global South greater influence on world affairs.
Bloc heavyweights China and Russia – whose President Vladimir Putin will participate virtually in the meeting – want to support the BRICS amid rising tensions stemming from the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s growing rivalry with Washington.
They are trying to use the August 22-24 summit in South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg to turn the group, which also includes Brazil and India, into a counterweight to the West.
But long-standing divisions resurfaced on Tuesday on the first day of talks, voiced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said the group should not seek to rival the United States and the wealthy Group of Seven economies.
Lula and his South African counterparts Cyril Ramaphosa, China’s Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Tuesday evening for dinner and a mini-retreat.
The issue of BRICS expansion was high on the summit agenda and highlighted the kind of divergent views that have long plagued the group.
China and Russia are interested in expanding the BRICS to give the bloc greater global influence. South Africa’s Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that his country’s stance is similar to China’s.
Brazil, however, fears that BRIC expansion could dilute its influence, although it would like to see neighboring Argentina join the bloc.
An Indian official familiar with Tuesday night’s discussions between leaders said Modi had indicated his country was open to expansion but that “there have to be ground rules on how that should happen and who can join.” .
LEADERS DISCUSS THE CRITERIA
More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining the BRICS, South African officials say. Of these, nearly two dozen have formally applied to be admitted.
While no new BRICS members are expected to be admitted during the summit, leaders are reflecting on a strategy and criteria for membership, details of which could be included in a joint statement to be finalized on Wednesday.
In addition to the expansion issue, strengthening the use of member states’ local currencies in commercial and financial transactions is also on the agenda of the summit to reduce reliance on the US dollar.
South African organizers say there will be no discussion of a common BRICS currency, an idea floated by Brazil as an alternative to dollar dependence.
Source: Terra
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