It’s time to build BRICS better

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Under India’s chairmanship, the 13th BRICS Summit is going to be held in digital format.

About BRICS

• Acronym BRIC was used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper.
•  BRIC started after the meeting of Russia, India and China in St. Petersburg on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006.
• The first BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009.
• South Africa entered in 2010 and BRIC became BRICS after that.
• The five BRICS countries are also members of G-20.
• BRICS is chaired by turn, after 2012 India chaired in 2016 and now in 2021.
•  It acts as a bridge between the Global North and Global South.

Immediate Goals of BRICS

• Strengthening multilateralism: Multilateral institutions ranging from the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Health Organization need reforms.
• Combat terrorism: Terrorism is prevailing all across the world affecting Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan contains specific measures to fight radicalisation, terrorist financing and misuse of the Internet by terrorist groups.
• Promoting technological and digital solutions for the Sustainable Development: Digital tools have been used all across the world when it was adversely hit by the pandemic. Country like India has been in the forefront of using new technological tools to improve governance.
• Expanding people-to-people cooperation: Strengthening people-to-people cooperation will have to wait for international travel to revive.

Achievements

• Established the New Development Bank
• Financial stability net in the form of Contingency Reserve Arrangement
• Vaccine Research and Development Virtual Center is upcoming project
•  Implementation of the Energy Research Cooperation Platform initiative
• Launch of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance.
• Cooperation in science, technology and innovation, humanitarian and cultural exchanges, sports, tourism, agriculture, urban development, environment protection.

Cooperation areas

• Economic and Financial Cooperation: New Development Bank (NDB): It was created at the Fortaleza Summit (2014). Through the activities of this bank, it is expected the mobilization of investment flows in infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries as well as in other emerging economies.
  • Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA): It is an important mechanism to the macroeconomic support of BRICS countries. The arrangement aims at shoring up its member countries in the event of crises in their balance of payments.
• Health: BRICS health cooperation started with the First Meeting of Health Ministers of BRICS countries, in 2011. This area of cooperation has resulted in the identification of common problems and cooperation during Covid- 19 Pandemic.
• Science, Technology and Innovation: BRICS STI cooperation is one of the most promising areas of work in the grouping. It started in 2014, with the first ministerial meeting on the subject, which produced concrete results both in terms of know-how exchange and availability of resources to research projects.
• SECURITY: The meetings of National Security Advisors (NSA) and the working groups on security issues are the main spaces of BRICS dialogue on security. In these occasions, the partners exchange their approaches on international security threats and on transnational crimes, such as drug trafficking, cyber-attacks, money laundering, corruption, and terrorism.
• BUSINESS: BRICS Business Council and Business Forum are the main mechanisms for business cooperation inside the grouping. The Business Council was established in 2013, during the Durban Summit, in South Africa, and aims at bringing the business communities from the five countries closer, while sharing know-how and searching for new business opportunities.

Concerns associated with BRICS 

• China’s aggression in eastern Ladakh last year brought India-China relations to their lowest point in several decades and such incidents puts BRICS solidarity under exceptional strain.
• The strained relations of China and Russia with the West.
• Serious internal challenges preoccupying both Brazil and South Africa.
• In case of deepening trade and investment ties among BRICS member states, the difficulty stems from China’s centrality and dominance of intra-BRICS trade flows.
• BRICS countries have not done enough to assist the Global South to win their optimal support for their agenda
• BRICS member like China feel little hesitation in supporting clear-cut denunciations of terrorist groups and even back Pakistan, which is heavily enmeshed with a host of international terrorist groups. Recent example of Taliban rule in Afghanistan is supporting this.

Conclusion

BRICS has a lot of potential and the idea of BRICS is relevant in modern times. The huge political capital invested by 5 countries from 4 continents in pushing the BRICS experiment forward, and its institutionalisation has created its own momentum. BRICS has proved itself on many fronts but is also confronting many challenges. It is necessary for leaders of BRICS grouping to undertake serious soul-searching and find a way out of the present predicament.

The Hindu Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/its-time-to-build-brics-better/article36209516.ece

Question: BRICS succeeded up to a point but it now confronts multiple challenges.Comment?