On August 22, 2023, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will visit the South African City of Johannesburg to attend and participate in the 15th BRICS Summit.
Leaders from more than 50 countries will join South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He will be joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Lula da Silva and PM Narendra Modi. The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will join the leaders remotely as an international arrest warrant has been issued on him by the West for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
PM Modi’s Address
Apart from participating in the discussion related to economic cooperation, food security and expansions of the BRICS grouping issues, PM, Narendra Modi is also expected to underscore at the summit the need for member states to respect each other’s security interests and to speak in one voice against terrorism.
PM Modi will address the grouping’s business forum on August 22, 2023, where he is expected to underline the significance of the BRICS at a time when the whole world is still grappling with the COVID Pandemic, Ukraine war and highlight some key achievements made by India including digital transformation, and ease of doing business.
PM Modi is likely to reiterate the need to end the war immediately and allow dialogue and discussions coupled with diplomacy to take over. With Xi present, he may look to raise the issue of terrorism, like at the virtual summit held last year that was chaired by Xi Jinping and where he called upon member states to provide mutual support in the designation of terrorists and not to politicise the issue.
Modi-Xi Face-Off
The leaders’ retreat on the first day of the meeting will witness PM Modi coming face to face with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary and President of the Peoples Republic of China, for the first time since they had a quick conversation on the margins of the G-20 Summit in Bali (2022). While neither side has proposed an additional official dialogue yet. Both leaders will remain together in Johannesburg for two days (48hrs).
The plenary session on August 23, 2023, is expected to see discussions on geopolitical issues, including the Ukraine Crisis with host South Africa which has maintained a neutral position on the conflict leading the African initiative to end the crisis.
Expansion of BRICS
The BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will also use the summit of Johannesburg to enlist more members to bolster its global heft, and this push comes from Russia, China and South Africa. Some countries such as Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
With 22 countries queuing up for BRICS membership, the talks will also focus on the expansion of the bloc. Fearing the excess of Chinese influence and wary of alienating the West, India and Brazil have trodden cautiously on the issue. According to estimates from Bloomberg, An expanded group would represent about half of global output by 2040. A bigger BRICS will account for almost half the global population.
India, which has the closest ties with many countries and states seeking membership, has strongly denied that it is blocking the proposed expansion and has said that it wants the criteria for membership to be finalised first. India wants the process to be gradual.
Other Agendas of BRICS Summit
There will be discussions and talks on accelerating a shift away from the Dollar (Currency) and increasing the use of local currencies in trade between members. There are discussions about the formulation of a common currency too.
