Russian President Vladimir Putin will be absent when Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders from the BRICS group of developing countries kick off a three-day summit in South Africa on Tuesday.
The bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is holding its first face-to-face meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Putin will participate via video call after his trip to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued in March over the abduction of children from Ukraine.
Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be in person as the bloc — which is home to 40% of the world’s population and is responsible for more than 30% of global economic output — considers the possibility expansion.
That will be the main agenda at the summit meeting on Wednesday (23/8) in the Sandton financial district, Johannesburg. More than 20 countries have applied to join the bloc, according to South African officials, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil, November 13, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino)
The five BRICS countries must agree on criteria for new members before any country is admitted, but the larger BRICS is seen as a favored policy by China and Russia because it can function as a coalition amid their deteriorating relations with the West.
BRICS was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010.
South African Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel officially opened the summit, welcoming some 1,200 delegates from five BRICS countries as well as from dozens of other developing countries. More than 40 heads of state are expected to attend the three-day meeting, according to Ramaphosa.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that Putin will fully participate despite appearing virtually and will make a speech. Russia will also be represented directly by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres is also expected to attend.
The summit will stage a series of discussions on various topics, with a general call for more cooperation in areas such as agriculture, mining, energy, education, climate change, currency policy and trade. The entire discussion was colored by a growing sentiment in developing countries that Western-led institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tend to pay little attention.
Ramaphosa held a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday (22/8) ahead of the BRICS summit. The South African leader said he was seeking “China’s support for South Africa and Africa’s call for reform of global governance institutions, especially the UN Security Council.”
Africa and South America have no permanent representation on the Security Council despite being home to nearly two billion people.
BRICS officials have rejected characterizations that the bloc is taking an anti-Western turn under Chinese and Russian influence, saying they look more closely at the interests of developing countries.
However, the BRICS stance contradicts the United States (US) and its Western allies on a number of issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The European Union called on Xi, Lula, Modi and Ramaphosa to use this week’s meeting to condemn Russia and Putin for the war in Ukraine, but that is unlikely to happen.
The BRICS has become a forum for Russia to express its anti-Western rhetoric. Lavrov used the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in June to lambast the West for “hegemony” and using “financial blackmail” to serve its “selfish interests.”
Not officially on the agenda, but likely to be discussed in closed negotiations is food security, with developing countries eager to use the BRICS relationship with Russia to seek more grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine. (ab/uh)
