Did the 18th BRICS Summit Accomplish Its Goals?
Members of the BRICS bloc met at their 18th summit on 12 September with a theme of “‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting a people-centric and humanity-first approach.” The 11 members came together to discuss economic issues for developing countries in the backdrop of major chaos due to the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Considering that two of these nations are directly involved in the military conflicts, this meeting had low expectations of significant developments in resolving the conflicts in a meaningful way. Although, it is significant that these nations came together as they make up 40% of global GDP as well as half of the world’s population.
It appears to be a theme for the bloc as more members join, consensus on major issues are harder to find common ground. One example would be the United Arab Emirates and Iran have vastly alternative views on regional security in the Middle East. Each nation is on opposing sides as the UAE is very friendly with the United States and I’m sure you understand that Iran is not a fan. Still, they are attending this summit to represent their interests and agreed on the very generalised statement:
““deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions” in the Middle East and called for “maximum restraint”, while urging countries to avoid actions that could further aggravate the situation.”
After several months of negotiations prior to the summit, India “scored a “significant diplomatic success” in securing this declaration even though there are “sharp differences between Iran and the UAE” but most commentators believe that getting to this point is a win for India.
The more interesting relationship to watch during the BRICS summit was between the host country India and China. This was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit to India in almost seven years. Relations between the two countries plummeted in 2020 after the border clashes in the Himalayas. At least 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed, and dozens more were injured. Territorial claim over the Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control has been contentious since it was drawn in 1962, but this was the most significant event pulling in discussions through military and diplomatic channels. The thawing of this relationship between the two nations is significant as each wants to play more significant roles on the world stage. China is reaching out to increase its influence over the Asian region. India is looking to diversify its global supply chain to when friendly nations have implemented new constraints. This mostly leads back to the chaotic foreign policy of the Trump Administration and its impact on the Global South. By working together, India and China have the opportunity to build better trade relations. Nevertheless, there is a very long and controversial history between these two countries so they are not going to become best friends any time soon.
Using the BRICS summit to improve ties between geopolitical rivals is an intriguing idea, but mostly it is an opportunity for multilateralism and multipolarity during a time when old alliances are disappearing. In its declaration, they “reiterated support for a multipolar world order and reforms to the United Nations, including its Security Council, as well as global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.” The Global South has felt left behind and with this platform, they are encouraging reforms through geoeconomic measures.The need to rebalance global economic institutions to have more weight for emerging economies was also a common theme in the discussions. This comes at a time where alternative cross-border payment systems and exclusions from the SWIFT payment system are impacting several of the countries in the bloc. Alternatives to the Western-dominated financial system was a large focus while also discussing supply chain resiliency and access to emerging technologies, like AI, the summit brought a conversation together from countries that are feeling the impact. While meetings like this one are important by bringing focus on developing countries and interesting considering the leaders who showed up, the rivalry between nations and the weak institutional clarity of its declaration shows us that this group still has a long road ahead.
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