BRICS Open To Expansion, Gives Call For a 'Multipolar' World

NEW DELHI: Foreign ministers from the five-country BRICS group called for a “rebalancing” of the world order in Thursday talks held in South Africa.

“Our gathering must send out a strong message that the world is multipolar, that it is rebalancing and that old ways cannot address new situations,” said foreign minister S. Jaishankar in his opening remarks. “We are a symbol of change and must act accordingly,” he added. The minister also said that the concentration of economic power “leaves too many nations at the mercy of too few.”

What BRICS foreign ministers discussed

Talks among the BRICS group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa centered on the potential use of alternative currencies to the US dollar for international trade and strengthening the group’s New Development Bank.

Members of the bloc also discussed reforming global decision-making, with South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor criticising the lack of permanent African representation on the United Nations Security Council.

Could BRICS expand to include new members?

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that “more than a dozen” countries had expressed their interest in joining the BRICS group. Possible expansion could include the oil producing nations of Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE.

Lavrov said that the issue of the enlargement was discussed with Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan, who was also in Cape Town. Chinese vice foreign minister Ma Zhouxu said that Beijing expects the group to take on new members. “We expect more countries to join our big family,” Ma said.

Will Putin participate in the BRICS summit in August?

The talks come ahead of an August summit to be held in Johannesberg and to which Russian President Vladimir Putin is invited.

South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant against Putin. South Africa would thus be required to arrest the Russian president under the terms of the treaty that established the ICC.