Bloc’s experience, influence rising, Indian officials say

The BRICS members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — have gained momentum in their economic and political cooperation, seeing their influence increase at both regional and international levels, said Indian officials and analysts.

Tarun Vijay, chairman of the India-China Parliamentary Group, said that the BRICS Summit is “a very good platform”, through which the member countries can exchange their experience on such issues as “elimination of poverty, increasing growth, and bringing happiness to millions of people”.

Vijay made the remarks while attending a seminar to discuss the experience of governance among the BRICS members and some other developing countries. The seminar was held on Aug 17-18 in Quanzhou, a city close to Xiamen, in Fujian province.

Both India and China face the task of upgrading their economies to a higher level, and the two countries should enhance economic cooperation, he said.

“We learn from China, and China learns from India,” he said, adding that the two countries could “assure the world of peace and prosperity”.

The BRICS have advocated dialogue and peaceful resolution of disputes, in addition to lifting any curbs on trade and investments, said Srikanth Kondapalli, professor in Chinese studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“I think there will be efforts and announcements in Xiamen for further economic integration among BRICS countries,” he said.

Macroeconomic stability, institutional effectiveness and openness are among the factors that enable the bloc to attract global attention and to play a larger role in global governance and growth, he said.

As the five members “are