Brics & mortar: Time to rebuild the grouping?
Narendra Modi will be in Johannesburg for the Brics leaders’ summit, starting today. The five-nation grouping will meet amid disagreements on expansion and a common currency. Questions persist over the bloc’s relevance, too.
Mint explains: The idea of Brics gained prominence in the early noughties when Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill coined the term to refer to major developing economies that he said would grow to dominate the global economy. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met as part of the new grouping in 2009. South Africa was added in 2010.
The grouping is mainly known for backing the reform of multilateral institutions to allow greater representation among major developing countries. Brics was seen as a grouping of major, non-Western powers coming together to articulate their interests. The initial promise of Brics was that its economies would grow rapidly and dominate global growth by 2050.
But that hasn’t happened, particularly when it comes to Russia and South Africa. And high commodity prices that fuelled Brazil’s growth in the 2000s disappeared. Only China and India have grown steadily, if not quickly, over the last decade.
The members of the grouping are also at loggerheads. India and China are now in the fourth year of a border standoff. Larger objectives like the reform of multilateral institutions have also not seen much progress.
This has led many to question the bloc’s relevance. India’s Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and Brazil’s Lula da Silva will attend. Russia’s Vladimir Putin will not, as the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest.
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