2023-08-22 20:09:46
At the start of the three-day summit of the BRICS countries, the President of host country South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, underlined what he saw as the growing role of the group of countries. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are “strong engines of global growth,” said Ramaphosa at the end of the first day of the summit in Johannesburg. Among other things, a possible expansion of the BRICS group is on the agenda of the meeting between the five countries.
About 40 countries – including Argentina, Iran and Saudi Arabia – have already expressed an interest in membership. “This shows that the Brics family is growing in importance, prestige and influence around the world,” said Ramaphosa. The BRICS countries represent 23 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and 42 percent of the world’s population.
Because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, there was a lot of international fuss about the possible arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin before the start of the summit. Ramaphosa had invited Putin, but he canceled his participation amid an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him.
Putin will be represented at the summit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. On the first day of the summit, the Russian President only spoke via a recorded video message.
The BRICS group sees itself as a counterweight to western alliances and tries to strengthen its international influence. However, the five BRICS countries disagree on many issues, including group expansion and membership requirements.
China, the bloc’s most powerful economy, is also looking to increase its influence relative to the US, while India is wary of its regional rival’s intentions.
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