BRICS – The Core Agenda

Why in news?

• Ninth BRICS summit is going to be held in Xiamen, China.
• China has invited Egypt, Kenya, Tajikistan, Mexico and Thailand as guest countries for the summit.

What is BRICS?

• BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• BRICS countries represents 40% of the world population and account for 22% of global GDP.
• Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits.

What are the problems faced by the BRICS countries?

• Bilateral relations among BRICS nations have mainly been conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.
• The future of this partnership has lately come under serious interrogation due to various internal and external problems experienced by them.
• Brazil and South Africa have experienced prolonged internal instability.
• Russia has had to face continuous distractions from Georgia, Ukraine and Syria to the current US sanctions.
• Also, the recent China-India military standoff at Doklam became formidable stumbling block.
• Hence, the theme of the current Summit “Stronger Partnership for Brighter Future” is very apt to the present situation for the group.

What is its agenda?

• Originally, BRICS was envisioned to usher in reforms in the global financial governance.
• At a broader level, it was to pursue democratisation of international relations and provide developing nations a greater say in global governance.
• Of late, BRICS has drastically expanded its scope & become more of a political forum, thereby diluting its founding principles.
• The expanded agenda now includes several non-financial issues from climate change and terror to women empowerment, human trafficking and so on.
• While these issues are indeed pressing, experts allude that expansion of agenda takes a toll on efficacy.

What is the best path for BRICS?

• Experts feel that focus should be on consolidation of the agenda and not expansion.
• Creating a dedicated organisational structure with its own cadre of BRICS personnels should be prioritized.
• To nourish cohesion and momentum, the organisation should be a mission oriented framework rather than being a vague conglomerate.
• People to people contacts & co-operation in other fields shouldn’t dilute the core issues at hand.

Source: The New Indian Express