Why Pakistan could not join BRICS and is expansion in this alliance a cause of trouble for India?
Michael Kogelman
Designation, Analyst for Diplomatic Affairs
For years, Western critics have dismissed BRICS as an unimportant organization, but last week's annual BRICS meeting in Russia proved that perception wrong.
The UN Secretary-General and leaders of 36 countries attended the three-day meeting where BRICS formally welcomed four new members. These include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Since the formation of BRICS in 2006, only South Africa has been made a part of the organization in 2010, but now it seems that the doors of the organization are opening to other countries.
Meanwhile, BRICS, which presents itself as an alternative to the Western model of global governance, is being discussed a lot. Between growing disillusionment with Western policies and the financial system, Bricks is growing in influence and importance.
Surprisingly, India is the most Western-oriented country in this organization, which also benefits the most from its expansion.
India has close ties with the new BRICS members. United Arab Emirates is India's main partner while India also has long and close relations with Ethiopia.
On the other hand, BRICS membership was also offered to Saudi Arabia, but so far the Saudi government has not officially decided to join.
On the other hand, the initial BRICS member countries are also proving to be beneficial in India's favor as its membership allows India to maintain ties with its close friend Russia even as the Western world tries its best to isolate Moscow.
On the other hand, working with rival China helps India in its cautious efforts to de-escalate tensions with Beijing, especially at a time when the two countries have also signed a border patrol agreement ahead of the meeting.
The announcement of this agreement gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the diplomatic and political atmosphere in which he could meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the meeting.
Also, with the help of BRICS, India can enhance strategic autonomy, a key tenet of its diplomatic policy, under which it claims to maintain equal relations with key players in various regions but not to form alliances with any one. without
The Government of India has established important partnerships in the West and beyond, and maintaining an active BRICS presence and good relations with member states along with strong ties with Western countries, including the US, will be a significant diplomatic challenge, however. So the priorities of BRICS are also the priorities of India.
+The principles and objectives announced in the joint communique issued after the meeting are similar to the principles and objectives that India values, namely global relations, reforms in the United Nations, as well as India's desire for a permanent seat in the Security Council. , and criticism of the West's policy of imposing sanctions that affect India's trade with Russia and Iran.
Still, few believe this could be a problem for India, as the addition of new members to BRICS shows that the organization is now on its way to its goals, with China and Russia behind the West. Want to be an alternative.
The new BRICS members include Iran and possibly Belarus and Cuba in the future. It is feared that this organization will take a completely anti-Western form in the future.
At a time when India is trying to carefully maintain relations with the Western world and non-Western allies, it will not want to be part of an effort that is clearly anti-Western.
But such fears may not be genuine. BRICS is not yet an anti-Western organization and all the new member states, except Iran, have close relations with the West. At the same time, the countries that are being discussed that they can be a part of it in the future, such as Turkey, Vietnam, are not anti-Western either.
It is also important to note that even if more anti-Western countries join BRICS, the organization may not be able to take decisions that could threaten the West. The joint communique of the recent meeting mentions various plans, one of which is to establish an international payment system that is not based on the US dollar and cannot be affected by Western sanctions.
But the plan to end dependence on the US dollar may not succeed because the economy of most of the member countries of the organization cannot afford to break away from the dollar.
Then there is also the issue that some member countries of BRICS are not even more than each other and in such a case, consensus on a common plan of action will become more difficult with the expansion of the organization.
Iran's relations with both Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are not good, while the relations between Egypt and Ethiopia are also strained. In such a situation, the reduction of tension between China and India may prove useful in favor of this organization. But it should be noted that the relations between the two countries are not very good.
The border dispute, China's close relationship with Pakistan and the war for influence in South Asia, including the Indian Ocean, are unlikely to make any major progress.
Incidentally, Pakistan is among the countries that are reportedly trying to join BRICS. At present this is unlikely. On the one hand, Pakistan is facing economic difficulties, on the other hand, adding to the problem is that India has indicated that the accession of any new member must be by consensus.
This means that despite the support of Pakistan from Russia and China, Delhi, the Indian government, will not support its opponent's inclusion in BRICS.
In such a situation, Pakistan will have to strengthen its economy to join BRICS because getting India's consent to join BRICS will be a big challenge in the current situation. However, any time improvement in relations with India can make Pakistan a part of BRICS.
BRICS today has everything that is in India's favor: an expanding organization with an opportunity to work with friendly countries under principles that India already embraces. At the same time, India has an opportunity to maintain equal relations between the West and the non-Western world at a time when India's relations with the US and its Western allies, except Canada, are reaching new heights.
However, on the other hand, BRICS is facing the problem of how to take concrete steps internally and due to this problem, the organization cannot become a big threat to the West. And India wants the same.
The declaration of the recent meeting indicated that BRICS is interested in partnering on non-controversial and easily achievable projects, including education, health, science and technology, including issues such as climate change, in which member states work with each other. Will work but not against the West. This is the best situation for India.
And such efforts would also make it clear that the West need not feel threatened by BRICS, even though the holding of the meeting in Russia must have caused unease in Western capitals.
Related Topics
#India #China #Russia
No comments: