Brics group looks to expand at summit despite divisions among key members: The Guardian

LONDON, Aug 22 (MENA) - Leaders from developing countries representing almost half the world’s population including China and Russia are meeting in South Africa for a key summit aimed at reinforcing their alliance as a counterweight to the west, the Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Brics grouping summit in Johannesburg is being hosted by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and brings together the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, as well the presidents of China, Xi Jinping, and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Dozens of leaders of other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East are also attending, many hoping to be invited to join the bloc. The two-day summit opens on Tuesday morning.

The summit may see the Brics group, whose economies account for a quarter of global gross domestic product, take a clearly anti-western turn. This raises the prospect of a new and re-energised economic and political actor against the US and its allies in world affairs.

On Sunday, Ramaphosa sought to reassure concerned observers and domestic opponents that South Africa would “not be drawn into a contest between global powers” and wanted to avoid a world that was “increasingly polarised into competing camps”.

“Our decision not to align with any one of the global powers does not mean that we are neutral on matters of principle or national interest,” he told viewers in a televised national address.

One issue at the summit will be moves to undermine the dominance of the US dollar in international trade transactions, which would be helpful to Russia as its economy struggles with sanctions imposed after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

China is looking to build a broader coalition of developing countries to extend Beijing’s influence and reinforce its efforts to compete with the US on the global stage.

“The traditional global governing system has become dysfunctional, deficient and missing in action,” the Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, said at a briefing in Pretoria last week, adding that the Brics grouping was “increasingly becoming a staunch force in defending international justice”.