What is the issue?
- The upcoming BRICS meet at Xiamen in China is considered to be important card for India to revive its economic ties with china.
- India has to face many challenges to get benefited from the meet.
What is the importance of BRICS?
- The valuation of the BRICS grouping that represents 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of its growth at $17 trillion.
- The group of emerging economies had been bolstered by the formation of the BRIC group with a declared objective of battling “Western hegemony”.
- It is seen as the potential of the combined political influence of India and China.
- The BRICS New Development Bank set up in 2015 has already given out about $6 billion in loans for 23 projects across BRICS countries.
What are the significance of the Xiamen meet?
- The Doklam tensions casted a significant shadow over economic ties between both countries.
- Thus this meet gains global importance as two rivals meet after the standoff.
- Economic ties have been one of the main drivers of bilateral relations between China and India.
- The future of BRICS itself based on India and China’s revival of ties.
What are the challenges for India in this meet?
- The Nuclear Suppliers Group membership for India, terrorism, the Dalai Lama and others are likely to dominate discussions at BRICS as it now underpins all of China’s other policies.
- India’s refusal to be a part of the BRI over sovereignty issues will be a pulling factor over the meet.
- China’s plan for a “BRICS-Plus” or “Friends of BRICS” grouping, a plan to include Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Mexico to an expanded version of BRICS is distressing India.
- India cannot to be opposing China’s rationale of promoting “south-south cooperation” further.
- Russia’s closer ties with China will affect the language of the joint statement especially on Afghanistan, this will hurt India’s interest.
Source: The Hindu
