New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to take part in the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which will kick off on Tuesday. However, the expansion of the BRICS club-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa will dominate the main agenda of the summit as leaders of these nations will come together under one roof for the high-level event hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
"Expansion of BRICS will be a reality. How much and by when are the key parameters which will be discussed and decided by the leaders," Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, India’s former envoy to Jordan, Libya, and Malta, told ETV Bharat.
He reckoned that BRICS is an important organisation and India is the founder Member and an important player and stakeholder, adding, “New Delhi also would not like to rush into issues but will help calibrate the key questions of expansion and currency mechanisms as well as the corpus and course of New Development Bank (NDB). Besides, bilateral is equally important for even our G20 Summit. India is acknowledged as a rising power across geographies which means it has to be part of the game”.
Notably, the BRICS summit comes at a very critical time, especially amid the differences between India and China. Months ago, there was speculation that New Delhi is hesitant about the expansion of BRICS because of China’s presence and also as the country seeks to position itself as the leader of the global South. However, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi immediately cleared the air and said, “We have seen some baseless speculation that India has reservations against the expansion. This is simply not true”.
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"We have talked about India's position on expansion and we have clarified our position in the past. As mandated by the leaders last year, BRICS members are internally discussing the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures for the BRICS expansion process based on full consultations and consensus”, he said.
Meanwhile, addressing a special media briefing on Monday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that India has a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion. He noted that the Expansion of BRICS is a major agenda item of the summit. Further, in response to a query on Brics coming up with a common currency or a free trade agreement (FTA), Kwatra said the substantive part of discussions on economic cooperation has focused on increasing trade in national currencies. “There are several prerequisites before you can even talk of a common currency framework”, he added.
On the question of a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kwatra told reporters that the PM’s schedule for bilaterals with the Chinese President is still being finalized. After the G20 summit in Bali in November last year, it will be the second time when President Xi and PM Modi will come face to face at the BRICS.
According to MEA, the main summit meeting on August 23 will comprise two sessions – a closed plenary expected to focus on items related to intra-Brics cooperation, reform of the multilateral system, and counter-terrorism, and an open plenary with the participation of organizations such as the New Development Bank (NDB) and Brics Business Council that will discuss global economic recovery amid geopolitical challenges, sustainable development goals (SDGs), and priorities of the Global South.
It is pertinent to note that 40 countries have expressed their interest in joining the BRICS and 20 countries have formally applied to join the association. The BRICS business summit will take place on 24 August and will be attended by over 50 leaders from the Global South.
