JOHANNESBURG – A summit of the leaders of BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with the bloc’s expansion being on the top of its agenda, was hosted in Johanesburg.
In an address ahead of the August 22 to 24 summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his support for the bloc’s enlargement.
An expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order, he pointed out.
Ramaphosa hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping’s other leaders later in the day.
The summit was also attended by Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the summit virtually.
Boosting the use of local currencies of member states also remained on the summit’s agenda.
The BRICS leaders reportedly held a mini-retreat and dinner on Tuesday evening where they discussed a framework and criteria for bringing in new members to the grouping, which is already home to nearly 40 percent of the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP.
According to South African officials, more than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, with almost two dozen of them having formally asked to be admitted.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi was scheduled to participate in 15th BRICS summit at the invitation of Ramaphosa.
Iran is among dozens of countries that seek membership in BRICS and has submitted a formal application to join the body.
Russia and China have welcomed Iran’s application and the group’s expansion to include international powerhouses.
The potential expansion of the bloc, referred to as BRICS +, aims to turn it into a geopolitical bloc to challenge Western financial and currency dominance.
- Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi on Wednesday left for Johannesburg, South Africa, to participate in the 15th BRICS summit and hold meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the summit.
In addition to Iran, top officials from 66 other countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean were invited to the summit of the five-member alliance of emerging economies.
South Africa, the host of this week’s summit, became the chair of the powerful grouping on January 1, 2023, under the theme ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership of Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.’
The issues that prominently figured during this summit included the expansion of the bloc to dozens of countries that have elicited interest to join it, as well as the development of a new global financial network, which was the focus of the two previous annual BRICS meetings as well.
Amid the rapid transition from the unipolar to multipolar world order and the waning influence of the US, many countries are looking at BRICS as a powerful geopolitical and economic alternative.
On August 8, a conference titled ‘Iran and BRICS: Prospects for Partnership and Cooperation’ was held at the Institute for Political and International Studies in Tehran, which saw great attendance.
Speaking at the meeting, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic affairs said the country is ready to develop and expand relations with the BRICS group despite sanctions and other pressures.
He said Iran, as a key protagonist in the new world order, welcomes multilateralism in the global arena.
On Friday, Iran’s President Raeisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed Iran’s future membership of the bloc during a phone call.
It was followed by a phone call between Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday, who also discussed the BRICS summit and Iran’s participation.
BRICS is an intercontinental geopolitical bloc consisting of five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with their leaders meeting annually at summits and coordinating multilateral policies.
The five BRICS countries account for 42 percent of the global population and about 27 percent of both the world’s land area and the world’s economy, pointing to the significance of the grouping.
The bloc has become increasingly important in addressing international issues since it was founded in 2006 and is often seen as an alternative to Western political and economic hegemony.
The BRICS member states have emerged as foremost geopolitical rivals to the G7 bloc of leading Western economies, announcing competing initiatives such as the New Development Bank (NDB), a competitor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The members of the bloc were also expected to discuss local currency, ditching the US Dollar, as well as lending within the NDB, which will be a major blow to the US-dominated global financial system.
Recently, amid geopolitical shifts, the grouping has been keen on expansion, and last month South Africa’s envoy to BRICS announced that over 40 countries had expressed interest in joining the bloc.
Among the largest countries that want to join the bloc include the Islamic Republic of Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Mexico and Argentina.
Moscow also supports the accession of Iran, which was most recently confirmed in the statements of Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who said Russia considers Iran to be one of the strongest candidates to join BRICS.
On July 25, after a meeting between Ajit Kumar Doval, the national security advisor of India, and his Iranian counterpart Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, the former said that India will use every means and opportunity at its disposal to facilitate Iran’s accession to the bloc.
On the same day, Minister in Presidency of South Africa, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, also expressed her country’s support for Iran’s membership in BRICS.
The significance of Iran’s membership in BRICS was highlighted by Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, who cited the country’s strategic and unique geographical location, huge energy reserves, affordable and short transportation and transit network, young and expert manpower, and modern science and technology as major advantages that the grouping can benefit from.
Brazil has in the past opposed the expansion of the grouping, fearing that the original members would lose their influence, but it has of late dropped the rigid stance and agreed to the conditional expansion.
Iran and Brazil enjoy good bilateral relations, especially since the beginning of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presidency, and Iran meets all the conditions that Brazil has put forward for admission of new members.
Also, there is no dispute between Iran and other candidates for BRICS membership, as evidenced by Amir-Abdollahian’s statement last week, which backed the joining of Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well.
How Iran can contribute to BRICS?
The significance of Iran’s membership in BRICS was highlighted by Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, who cited the country’s strategic and unique geographical location, huge energy reserves, affordable and short transportation and transit network, young and expert manpower, and modern science and technology as major advantages that the grouping can benefit from.
Even Western analysts believe that the importance of BRICS membership is the size of the population because it contributes to the ongoing de-dollarisation drive, and Iran, with a population of around 85 million people and a developed economy, is one of the largest and most eligible candidates.
Furthermore, due to US sanctions, the country has for long been deprived of Western currencies which makes it an ideal candidate in the new BRICS-centric global financial system. Iran’s experience in resisting and neutralising sanctions, experts say, can help other members.
In the field of energy and ensuring lasting energy security, Iran is an ‘absolute added value for BRICS and its future members,’ Amir-Abdollahian explained recently.
In science, Iran is the 15th largest publisher of scientific works in the world, ahead of any other candidate for BRICS membership, as well as among the top 10 countries in advanced technologies.
The most important of all is Iran’s long-standing dedication to multilateralism and its unwavering adherence to its positions in international relations, bravely and successfully defying US pressures.
