The BRICS group held its annual summit during 22-24 October in Kazan, Russia. Prime Minister Modi led the Indian delegation at this summit. Apart from the leaders of the nine member countries of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and United Arab Emirates), leaders of 30 other countries attended the Summit. The participation of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reflected the growing international significance of this grouping of countries.
The BRICS group had its origins in 2006 in a meeting of leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2010, after which the name of the group was changed from BRIC to BRICS. The BRICS countries have tried to challenge the domination by the US over existing international financial institutions like IMF and World Bank. They have set up alternative financial institutions, such as the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2015.
The NDB has financed development projects not only in the member countries of BRICS, but in many other countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. More and more countries are seeking loans from the NDB to avoid the onerous conditionalities imposed by the IMF and World Bank.
Last year, the BRICS group was expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. After this expansion, the members of this group account for 45% of the world’s population and about 35% of global GDP. Currently, about 34 more countries have expressed interest in joining. Thirteen of them have become partner countries, including Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
One of the topics discussed was the need to combat the hegemony of the US Dollar over international trade and financial transactions. The summit decided to step up the use of national currencies in bilateral trade in place of the U.S. Dollar. It discussed measures to circumvent U.S – imposed sanctions on individual member countries.
The expansion of the BRICS grouping reflects the fact that the ruling bourgeoisie in a growing number of countries are wary of the drive of the US for a unipolar world under its dictate. By working together with other countries in the BRICS grouping, they hope to protect themselves from US domination. They want to advance their interests in a multipolar world.
The US has been trying to weaken the BRICS grouping, as part of its drive to put down any challenge to its drive to dominate the whole world. Argentina, which had applied and obtained membership of the BRICS group in the last Summit in 2023, withdrew its application after a pro-US government came to power.
The US has used the sanctions against Russia following the Ukraine War to threaten countries which want to join BRICS with similar action. However, these efforts have not been successful. The BRICS Summit hosted by Russia showed that increasing number of countries are willing to challenge US domination.
The US has been trying to incite India against China. In this way it hopes to weaken the worldwide opposition to its unilateral use of international financial institutions to the detriment of other countries. The bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping at Kazan, following the announcement of the two countries to end the standoff between their armies over the border, shows that the Indian bourgeoisie does not want to fall into the trap being set by the US.
The successful BRICS Summit held in Kazan does not mean that the participating countries have broken away from US influence or are openly opposing the dictate of US imperialism. However, it shows that there is widespread discontent with the US imperialist attempts to order the world according to its own interests. This is bringing together even countries and governments that have disagreements and tensions amongst themselves.
The Kazan Summit also discussed the need to resolve international issues without resorting to violence and war, and the need to ensure that international trade is for mutual benefit. Only time will tell whether the member countries of BRICS are able to address these needs.