{"id":37142,"date":"2023-08-25T12:13:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T06:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37142"},"modified":"2025-04-22T11:23:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:53:26","slug":"brics-summit-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/brics-summit-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"BRICS Summit 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What is 15th BRICS Summit?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: BRICS Summit 2023<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance of this move<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Need for expansion of BRICS<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The new members of BRICS<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What BRICS expansion means for India?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The 15th BRICS summit was held from the 22nd to 24th August at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa.<\/li>\n<li>A major outcome of the BRICS Summit was the decision of the BRICS leaders to expand its membership to include six new members.\n<ul>\n<li>BRICS decisions are unanimous, that is, all members have to agree for any move to go ahead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0BRICS Summit<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Host<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This year\u2019s summit was hosted by South Africa.\n<ul>\n<li>South Africa became Chair of BRICS on 1 January 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Theme<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five priorities for 2023<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Developing a partnership towards an\u00a0<u>equitable Just Transition<\/u><\/li>\n<li>Transforming\u00a0<u>education and skills development<\/u>\u00a0for the future<\/li>\n<li>Unlocking opportunities through the\u00a0<u>African Continental Free Trade Area<\/u><\/li>\n<li>Strengthening\u00a0<u>post-pandemic socio-economic recovery<\/u>\u00a0and the attainment of the 2030\u00a0<u>Agenda on Sustainable Development<\/u><\/li>\n<li>Strengthening multilateralism, including working towards real reform of global governance institutions and strengthening the meaningful participation of women in peace processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Outcome Document<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>At the end of summit, member countries adopted\u00a0<strong>Johannesburg II Declaration<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The outcome document called upon member countries to work on following themes\n<ul>\n<li>Partnership for Inclusive Multilateralism<\/li>\n<li>Fostering an Environment of Peace and Development<\/li>\n<li>Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth<\/li>\n<li>Partnership for Sustainable Development<\/li>\n<li>Deepening People-to-People Exchanges<\/li>\n<li>Institutional Development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary: BRICS Summit 2023<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0BRICS Summit, held in South Africa, invited\u00a0<strong>six countries to join the alliance<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>This is significant as this move can strengthen BRICS\u2019 claim of being a \u2018voice of the Global South\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>These countries are &#8211;\u00a0<u>Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia<\/u>. Their membership will begin in\u00a0<strong>January 2024<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Significance of this move<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Spokesperson of the developing world<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding new members strengthens the group\u2019s heft as a spokesperson of the developing world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Increased weight of the organisation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>BRICS currently represents around 40% of the world\u2019s population and more than a quarter of the world\u2019s GDP.<\/li>\n<li>With the additions, it will represent\u00a0<strong>almost half the world\u2019s population<\/strong>, and will include\u00a0<u>three of the world\u2019s biggest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>China\u2019s increasing dominance on the other<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This move also raises concerns about China\u2019s increasing dominance on the other as China is driving the expansion of the group.<\/li>\n<li>The fact that regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are now part of BRICS is in itself remarkable.\n<ul>\n<li>China happens to be the biggest buyer of Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil, and had recently brokered a peace deal between Tehran and Riyadh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Need for expansion of BRICS<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Anti-US sentiment and support for multipolarity<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As per experts, there is considerable anti-US sentiment in the world, and all these countries are looking for a grouping where they can use that sentiment to gather together.<\/li>\n<li>Also, there is a lot of appetite for multipolarity, for a platform where countries of the Global South can express their solidarity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Aspiring bloc that can challenge the western geopolitical view<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The war in Ukraine has brought the West together on the one hand and strengthened the China-Russia partnership on the other.<\/li>\n<li>This war has turned BRICS into an aspiring bloc that can challenge the western geopolitical view, and emerge as a counterweight to Western-led fora like the Group of 7 and the World Bank.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The new members of BRICS<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The invitation to Iran, whose ties with the West are strained, seems to have a strong China-Russia imprint.<\/li>\n<li>While Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a US ally, it has been increasingly striking out on its own, and the BRICS membership is in line with that.<\/li>\n<li>For Iran and Russia, this membership is a signal to the West that they still have friends globally.<\/li>\n<li>Both Egypt and Ethiopia have had longstanding ties with the US too.<\/li>\n<li>Argentina, facing an economic crisis, will hope for financial aid from BRICS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What BRICS expansion means for India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If India\u2019s presence at the recent\u00a0<strong>G7 summit in Hiroshima<\/strong>, where PM Modi also participated in an\u00a0<strong>informal Quad summit<\/strong>, was seen as a sign of New Delhi\u2019s US tilt,\u00a0<u>it continues to attach importance to the \u201canti-West\u201d BRICS<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>India is also part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and despite problems, it has relations with Russia, with China.<\/li>\n<li>While China does want BRICS to be an anti-western group, the Indian view is that it is a non-western group and should stay that way.<\/li>\n<li>Among the new members, while India looks at all of them as partnerships worth developing.<\/li>\n<li>However, concerns have been raised that the\u00a0<strong><u>group could become more pro-China and sideline New Delhi\u2019s voice and interests<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is G7?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Group of Seven, often abbreviated as G7, is an intergovernmental organization consisting of seven of the world&#8217;s largest advanced economies. The G7 member countries are: Canada; France; Germany; Italy; Japan; United Kingdom; United States.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong> <strong>What is Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance that was established on June 15, 2001. It has its roots in the Shanghai Five, a regional forum that included China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, which was founded in 1996. The SCO expanded and evolved into a more comprehensive organization with the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-global\/brics-expansion-significance-for-india-8907925\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>BRICS gets six new members: Significance, what it means for India<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brics2023.gov.za\/theme-and-priorities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>BRICS 2023<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mea.gov.in\/Images\/CPV\/Declaration_2408.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>MEA<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>15th BRICS Summit  was held at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}