Moscow: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia to participate in the 16th BRICS summit to be held on 22-23 October. The Ministry of External Affairs has said that Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with BRICS member countries. However, it is not clear whether PM Modi will hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping or not. This is PM Modi’s second visit to Russia after the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit in July this year. This shows how much importance India gives to BRICS. BRICS is an informal grouping, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In 2001, analyst Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC from the initials of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The first BRIC summit adopting this term was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16, 2009. It was formed to bring together rapidly growing developing countries and counter the dominance of Western powers.
BRICS has expanded continuously
With the joining of South Africa in this group, it became BRICS in 2010. In the current year, five more new members have also joined the group – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The population of the countries included in BRICS is about 3.5 billion, which is 45 percent of the world population. The combined economies of its member countries are worth more than $28.5 trillion, which is 28 percent of the global economy.
With Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE becoming members of BRICS, the countries of this group are producing 44 percent of global crude oil. This group is becoming a geopolitical power from a geo-economic structure. This can be seen in the recent expansion of the block. BRICS aims to establish an open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system. BRICS also talks about a common currency other than the dollar.
Importance of BRICS for India
According to Firstpost report, India is committed to global forums like BRICS. India has talked about ‘a multipolar world’ where the West does not dominate the international system. At the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in 2023, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar had said that BRICS should be told that the world is multipolar, old ways will not solve the new situations. India is using multilateral forums, including BRICS, to enhance its position on the world stage.
Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, says India views BRICS and its extensions as a multipolar basis to expand its economic expansion beyond West Asia. Is. BRICS diplomacy focuses on development that fits with India’s core interests – energy security, terrorism and climate change.
BRICS and economic security
BRICS seeks to address increasing non-traditional security threats and encourage economic security. These reflect India’s interests, which include reforms in multilateral fora such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations and the UN Security Council. For India, BRICS provides an opportunity to promote its global leadership aspirations while also promoting its strategic autonomy and multipolar vision in the West.