The Western media's portrayal of the "BRICS divide" has been refuted, the Indian Prime Minister has received attention, and the Brazilian President has stepped forward to refute rumors about the BRICS | Summit | Prime Minister
The BRICS Leaders Summit will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 22nd to the 24th of this month. According to Bloomberg on the 3rd, South African BRICS coordinator Anil Sukrar stated on the 2nd that BRICS leaders will announce matters related to expansion at this summit. Currently, 22 countries have officially submitted applications to join the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism, and more than 20 countries have submitted informal applications. As the attractiveness of the BRICS mechanism increased, European and American media reported that Brazil's opposition to BRICS expansion was refuted by Brazilian President Lula, followed by rumors that the Indian Prime Minister may not attend the summit offline and pointed the finger at the competition between China and India. Multiple international experts have analyzed that, on the one hand, cooperation between China and India within the framework of the BRICS cooperation mechanism is mainstream, while Europe and America are keen on exaggerating internal differences within the BRICS and hiding selfishness; On the other hand, India is pursuing to become a spokesperson for "southern countries", and failure to attend the summit in person would also be a loss.
Lula made a clear statement
"Brazil's Lula expressed support for more countries to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism," the Associated Press reported on the 3rd. Lula told reporters in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday, "Perhaps at this summit, we can already reach consensus on which new countries will join the BRICS." Lula said, "My view is that many countries want to join, and if they comply with the rules we are setting, we will accept their joining." Before Lula's statement, Reuters quoted an anonymous Brazilian diplomat as saying that Brazil opposes the expansion of the BRICS membership because it is concerned that more countries joining may weaken the influence of existing members. ".
According to Sukar, this will be the largest gathering of southern countries around the world to discuss current global challenges in the near future. According to reports, the BRICS countries have extended invitations to 69 countries. Sukar stated that "South African President Ramaphosa has invited leaders from the entire continent, as well as major institutions in the global South, to participate in the 'BRICS+'." If all are present, this year's BRICS summit will be one of the most attended meetings by world leaders in an event. In addition to expanding its membership, this summit will also discuss bilateral trade agreements, focusing on using local currencies instead of the US dollar for cross-border trade.
Modi was rumored to attend the conference online
However, on the eve of this summit, foreign media reported that Indian Prime Minister Modi may not personally attend the summit. Reuters reported on the 2nd that sources in New Delhi have stated that Modi is unlikely to attend the summit and instead chooses to attend via video.
On the 2nd, Bloomberg directly titled "This club is not big enough to accommodate both India and China", exaggerating the differences among BRICS countries in terms of expansion, and claiming that any non Western group that wants to put India and China in a leadership position will find it difficult to unite. The article also asserts that even if border issues can be resolved, competition between China and India still exists, and the tense relationship between these two Asian rivals may prevent the BRICS countries from posing a consistent challenge to the West.
Expert: Should not be fooled by Western media
On the 3rd, Wang Yiwei, Director of the European Union Research Center at Renmin University of China, told Global Times reporters that what Europeans now refer to as multipolarity is divided into three poles: the US Europe pole, the global southern pole, with India as the leader, and China and Russia as the pole. This understanding disrupts the BRICS because we emphasize that emerging countries in the BRICS, as a whole, are a collective rise with common demands, historical identities, development situations, and stages. The attractiveness of the BRICS is constantly strengthening, and in this context, we should not be deceived by Western media in the United States, exaggerating the contradictions between China and India, and dividing China, Russia, and other countries.
Qian Feng, a researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, also stated in an interview with Global Times on the 3rd that international observers increasingly believe that India has a tendency to prioritize the G20 over the SCO and BRICS at a series of important conferences this year. But we also need to see that although China India relations are currently facing difficulties, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS mechanism, and other organizations are not controlled by China. India itself hopes to continue to maintain influence in these organizations, in order to highlight its important position of connecting the East and the West and connecting the North and South. Only in this way can we better continue to deepen relations with the United States and the West, maintain traditional friendly relations with Russia, and highlight India's pursuit of the status of a spokesperson for the "southern country".
Qian Feng also mentioned that at the BRICS Summit in South Africa, a large number of African leaders were invited by the host country South Africa to participate. If India chooses to participate in the conference online, it is equivalent to giving up the opportunity to have face-to-face exchanges with important African country leaders for nothing. This is not conducive to India's pursuit of development in its relationship with African countries and further consolidating its position as a spokesperson for southern countries.
