JOHANNESBURG: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that the BRICS bloc of nations aims to organise the developing Global South and is not meant to rival the United States and the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy economies.
His comments point to a divergence of vision as leaders of the bloc — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — arrived in Johannesburg for a summit that will weigh expanding the group as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West.
Heightened global tensions provoked by the Ukraine war and Beijing’s growing rivalry with the United States have pushed China and Russia — whose President Vladimir Putin will attend the meeting virtually — to seek to strengthen the BRICS bloc.
Their vision of an expanded BRICS capable of rivalling US and European global dominance has, however, been met with skepticism by some members. And the outcome of the debate over enlargement could determine the future of a bloc long criticised for a lack of cohesion.
“We do not want to be a counterpoint to the G7, G20 or the United States,” Brazil’s Lula said on Tuesday during a social media broadcast from Johannesburg. “We just want to organise ourselves.”
Summit host South Africa welcomed China’s Xi Jinping, the leading proponent of enlarging BRICS, for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping’s other leaders planned for later in the day.
“I am confident that the upcoming summit will be an important milestone in the development of the BRICS mechanism,” Xi said shortly after his arrival in South Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a bilateral meeting with Xi that their two countries had “similar views” regarding expansion.
“We share your view, President Xi, that BRICS is a vitally important forum which plays an important role in the reform of global governance and in the promotion of multilateralism and cooperation throughout the world,” he said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also attending the August 22 to 24 summit.
Putin, who is wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not travel to South Africa.
Beyond the enlargement question, boosting the use of member states’ local currencies is also on the summit agenda. South African organisers, however, say there will be no discussions of a BRICS currency, an idea floated by Brazil earlier this year as an alternative to dollar-dependence.
— Reuters
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