4 days ago
India Seeks BRICS Consensus Amid West Asia War, Sanctions Pressure
India is preparing to host a major BRICS meeting in September.
BRICS is a group that now has 11 member countries.
The group is much larger and more economically important than when it began.
Its members do not always agree with one another.
The war in West Asia and United States sanctions against Iran are making discussions harder.
India wants members to agree on a shared statement.
Countries are discussing peace, safe shipping and respect for national sovereignty.
They are also exploring ways to make trade payments faster and less expensive.
India says these payment discussions are practical and are not aimed at creating a new currency or targeting another country.
India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi.
The expanded 11-member grouping represents nearly half of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP and 26% of global trade.
India is seeking agreement on a joint statement despite the West Asia war, sanctions pressure and members’ competing interests.
BRICS foreign ministers failed to issue a joint statement in May after disagreements over West Asia-related language.
Members are discussing safer maritime commerce, diplomacy, local-currency trade and cheaper cross-border payments without formally pursuing a BRICS currency.
- Who
- India and the 11 BRICS member countries, with leaders including Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian expected to attend.
- What
- India is organizing the 18th BRICS Summit and working to secure consensus on a leaders’ joint statement.
- Where
- Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, India.
- When
- The summit is scheduled for September 12 and 13; BRICS was established in 2006.
- Why
- India is seeking common positions on geopolitical crises, maritime commerce, economic cooperation and cross-border payments despite differences among members.
Consensus and practical cooperation
Divergent national positions
Joint statement
Consensus and practical cooperation
India says its role as chair is to facilitate dialogue, identify areas of agreement and produce a BRICS-wide perspective.
Divergent national positions
Members have competing interests and bilateral friction, and disagreements over West Asia prevented foreign ministers from issuing a joint statement in May.
Response to West Asia tensions
Consensus and practical cooperation
Themes highlighted for possible consensus include safe maritime commerce, civilian infrastructure protection, diplomacy, sovereignty and the United Nations Charter.
Divergent national positions
Members continue to present their own positions, and the differing positions make agreement on crisis-related language difficult.
Cross-border payments
Consensus and practical cooperation
Indian officials describe local-currency and payment-system discussions as practical efforts to make bilateral trade faster and cheaper.
Divergent national positions
Some observers have interpreted the discussions as connected to de-dollarisation, but Indian officials reject that characterization and say the efforts target no country or grouping.
Key facts
- Summit
- The 18th BRICS Summit will be held on September 12 and 13.
- Host
- India is chairing BRICS and will host the summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
- Membership
- BRICS has 11 members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- Global weight
- The grouping accounts for nearly half of the world’s population, about 40% of global GDP and 26% of global trade, according to government figures.
- Diplomatic challenge
- The BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in May ended without a joint statement because members disagreed over text concerning West Asia.
- Economic agenda
- Members are discussing balanced intra-BRICS trade and ways to reduce the cost and time of cross-border payments.
- Payment systems
- India has shared its experience with the Unified Payments Interface and is discussing greater payment-system interoperability with member countries.
Quotes
Ministry of External Affairs officials
Indian foreign ministry officials describing New Delhi’s approach as BRICS chair
“BRICS framework is a consensus based framework based on dialogue. As chair, our endeavour has been to facilitate dialogue, engagement and discussion among all members on all matters and wherever we can find consensus, bring forth those matters and continue dialogue where consensus isn’t reached”
CNBC TV 18
“Our endeavour is to ensure we have discussion and dialogue and can articulate the perspective of BRICS as a whole, in some form or the other, at the summit level.”
CNBC TV 18
Sources
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