Latest news with #17thBRICSSummit
Nikkei Asia
18 hours ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Indonesia's digital payment platform can help BRICS rival SWIFT
Heads of state and government pose for a family photo during the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 7. © AP Hugh Harsono is a consultant whose research interests focus on emerging technologies' impact on international security, technology policy, and strategic competition.
Indian Express
13-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Jaishankar heading to Moscow, Wang to Delhi amid strain in India ties with US
At a time when US-imposed tariffs have strained Delhi's ties with Washington DC, India is engaging with Russia and China over the next two weeks. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will travel to Moscow next week for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on August 21, the Russian government said Wednesday. Sources said the visit is meant to prepare the ground for a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to India and it could happen as early as mid-September. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, sources said, is expected to visit India on August 18 for the Special Representative-level talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. This is the first high-level visit from China after the India-Pakistan hostilities following Operation Sindoor. Delhi said Chinese weapons and drones were used by Pakistan and Beijing helped Rawalpindi with live intelligence during the military confrontation. The visits are taking place in the run-up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin in China, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel on August 31-September 1. He will also hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit, and this will also provide an opportunity to review the situation along the border and the bilateral relationship. On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, 'On August 21, FM Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with FM of India S Jaishankar in Moscow. The Ministers will discuss key issues on our bilateral agenda, as well as key aspects of cooperation within international frameworks.' This will be their third meeting in the last few weeks – Jaishankar and Lavrov met on the sidelines of the meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers in Tianjin on July 15, and on the margins of the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 6. In the past few weeks and months, India has engaged with both Russia and China. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov met on the sidelines of the gathering of SCO Defence Ministers in Qingdao, China, in late June. The leaders discussed the supply of S-400 systems, Su-30 MKI upgrades, and procurement of critical military hardware in expeditious timeframes. With China, after the disengagement process was completed along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, NSA Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar visited the country. Wang Yi came to India in 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sources said the meeting between Doval and Wang is expected to cover bilateral ties and the situation along the LAC. De-escalation and de-induction of military troops is the next step, as 50,000 to 60,000 troops are still deployed on each side of the LAC. The engagement with Russia and China is also significant given that Beijing has been pushing for the Russia-India-China trilateral meeting. Delhi has so far not played ball.
Time of India
12-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Can BRICS cement a new era of climate justice and action?
Hari Krishna Nibanupudi is a trained Communicator who works in Sustainable Development, Climate Change, International Humanitarian Affairs, International Relations, entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has served several international organizations such as UNDP, WFP, UN-HABITAT, Oxfam etc., in over 20 countries in South and South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He has also been an award-winning mentor for sustainable development innovations and guides young sustainability entrepreneurs on several global platforms like MIT-Climate Colab, United Nations Sustainable Social Development Network, etc. LESS ... MORE At the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro in July, the leader of BRICS signalled a bold ambition: if the West can no longer lead on climate justice, the Global South will. Comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and the UAE, BRICS today represents over 45% of the world's population, 35% of global GDP (PPP), and more than 50% of global carbon emissions. The Rio summit's declaration, though uneven, revealed a group inching toward an alternative vision—one grounded in equity, sovereignty, and systemic reform. At the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva decried the diversion of resources to warfare while poverty, climate vulnerability, and financial injustice fester. Echoing the spirit of the Non-Aligned Movement, Lula positioned BRICS as a vehicle for Southern autonomy in a collapsing international order. The summit's wide-ranging declaration touched on issues, but at its heart was climate justice: the adoption of a Leaders' Framework on Climate Finance, a demand to activate the $1.3 trillion 'Baku to Belém' roadmap, and endorsement of Brazil's Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a new blended finance mechanism for conservation. However, the climate activities demand that BRICS adopt concrete timelines for fossil phaseouts, take a strong position on Loss and Damage financing, develop a clear framework for debt relief for developing nations, aggressively push the developed countries for grant-based climate, and the BRICS declaration should have a mechanism for peer review, civil society oversight, or transparency. Green Growth as Geopolitical Strategy BRICS began as an economic bloc in 2006, but over the last decade, it has evolved as a formidable political group. The US–China rivalry, sanctions against Russia, and the carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) in Europe have driven BRICS members to develop new industrial and financial strategies for transitioning into the post-carbon era of clean energy and green manufacturing. The numbers speak volumes. Currently, BRICS accounts for over half of global solar electricity. China, for its part, produced 834 TWh itself— almost triple that of the US (303 TWh). India produced 133 TWh, while Brazil surpassed Germany to rank fifth globally with 75 TWh. Further, China has deployed over $100 billion in global clean energy projects since 2023. South-South cooperation is broadening to new sectors of electric vehicles, solar tech and biofuels, playing a significant role in the expansion of BRICS' energy strategies. India's role in this green shift is pivotal. As the incoming BRICS chair in 2026, it holds unique credibility across both the developing world and Western partners. Beyond BRICS, India has been instrumental in building successful multilateral institutions such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Bharat Initiative on Technology and Climate (BITC). These platforms have reshaped South–South cooperation from rhetorical solidarity to institutional delivery. The ISA, now with over 100 member countries, has catalysed solar projects across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. CDRI is leading resilience planning across vulnerable regions, while BITC advances climate-tech innovation in and for the Global South. India has also emerged as a humanitarian leader, responding swiftly to major disasters in Turkey, Fiji, and Mozambique. At the Rio summit, India and China found common ground on tropical forest protection and criticism of carbon tariffs, hinting at a promising alignment that could strengthen the Global South's negotiating power at COP30 and beyond. COP30: A Moment of Truth COP30 in Belém will be a defining moment for BRICS. Lula must align Brazil's climate commitments with its fossil investments; India must navigate growing Western hostility; and China must match its green diplomacy with action. The proposed BRICS Multilateral Guarantee could unlock sustainable finance, but without equity safeguards, it risks reinforcing top-down power. Yet BRICS holds transformative promise: its diversity, economic weight, and equity-driven vision offer a compelling alternative to the crumbling Western-led order. As trust in traditional institutions wanes, BRICS has a historic opportunity to reshape global climate governance—from rhetoric to responsibility, from exclusion to justice. To cement its climate leadership, BRICS must resolve internal contradictions and adopt clear fossil fuel phaseout timelines. It must prioritise grant-based, concessional finance over market-led solutions that burden developing nations. Credibility demands transparency, civil society inclusion, and peer review. Adaptation and resilience must equal mitigation, alongside strong South–South cooperation in technology and knowledge sharing. The developing world expects that BRICS will leverage the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion affirming states' legal obligations to prevent climate harm to strengthen its moral and legal case for climate justice. Acting as a united coalition, BRICS should push developed nations at COP 30 and future climate summits to acknowledge their historical responsibility, commit to significantly higher grant-based climate finance, and accept stricter Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) aligned with planetary survival. By presenting a coordinated front at COP30, BRICS can transform the ICJ's opinion into a diplomatic lever, compelling the Global North to shift from minimal compliance to ambitious, equitable action that safeguards vulnerable communities and ecosystems worldwide. The world needs bold, accountable action. BRICS has the power—it now requires the collective will to lead decisively. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
IOL News
08-08-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Exploring the philosophical, political, and human questions shaping the BRICS+ world
This photo taken on July 3, 2025 shows a logo of the BRICS Summit outside the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 17th BRICS Summit will be held here from July 6 to 7. Image: Xinhua Does BRICS Have an Ideology? BRICS has become one of the most talked-about formations on the global stage. Described as a counterweight to Western dominance, a champion of the Global South, or a pragmatic coalition of emerging powers, it raises a vital question: does BRICS actually have an ideology? The answer is layered. BRICS is not an ideological bloc. It is a geopolitical coalition, a space where countries with different political systems, economic strategies, and social realities come together to pursue shared interests. What connects them is not a common vision of the world, but a shared dissatisfaction with how global power has been concentrated for decades in the hands of the United States, Europe, and the institutional networks that have shaped global governance – notably NATO, the IMF, the World Bank, and the broader Bretton Woods system. BRICS provides a platform to push back against this order, while opening debate on how economic and political systems might evolve outside Western hegemony. At its heart, BRICS advances the principle of multipolarity – a geoeconomic arrangement that challenges the idea of a single global centre of power. It champions sovereignty, non-interference, fairer trade, and stronger representation for developing countries in global institutions. For much of the Global South, these demands are a response to long histories of colonisation, resource extraction, debt dependency, and exclusion from decision-making. The BRICS reformist drive to challenge and reshape the IMF, World Bank, and the broader Bretton Woods framework is central to this moment, alongside building alternative institutions such as the New Development Bank (NDB), signalling a desire to redistribute not only global influence, but also the terms of development, debt, and investment. Yet a deeper question emerges: how will this new economic arrangement touch the lives of ordinary people, the masses already dispossessed through austerity, inequality, and structural adjustment programmes imposed under the old order? How will it ensure that prosperity does not remain confined to elites but filters down to uplift the many? Each BRICS+ country offers a unique social landscape. Brazil is a powerhouse of agricultural production and industry, yet its indigenous peoples and rural communities face land dispossession and environmental pressure. Urban centres flourish, but inequality persists. India's digital and industrial growth is remarkable, yet caste hierarchies and rural poverty continue to shape life for hundreds of millions. Russia brings energy strength, geopolitical influence, and a commitment to multipolar partnerships, while also confronting regional disparities and social challenges – yet its strategic role within BRICS positions it as a bridge-builder, especially through energy, infrastructure, and security cooperation. China stands out for its vast poverty alleviation achievements, lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty over recent decades through state-led planning, large-scale investment, and targeted social programmes. This is not only a technical achievement but a social transformation that challenges the idea that global integration must leave the vulnerable behind. South Africa brings the symbolic and moral weight of its anti-apartheid struggle, but its post-liberation economy remains marked by white monopoly capital and a comprador elite that has not yet delivered meaningful redistribution to the majority. Land, employment, and economic inclusion remain unfinished work. The Gulf states contribute energy wealth and sovereign funds but come with monarchic and theocratic systems that raise new questions for social policy. In looking to ethical and philosophical guidance, BRICS might draw on its members' cultural foundations. China's traditions, including Taoist ideas of harmony, social balance, and care for the collective, could inform models of development that go beyond profit. Africa offers ubuntu, an ethic of human interconnectedness, dignity, and collective well-being, alongside the political tradition of Pan-Africanism, which calls for solidarity, sovereignty, and justice among historically marginalised peoples. There are examples from history worth studying. Libya, under Muammar Gaddafi, developed a social model that channelled oil wealth into free healthcare, education, housing, and basic income, aiming to circulate resources directly to the population. This system was violently cut short not by internal collapse, but by US and NATO intervention, which destroyed a social contract rare in the region. China's experience shows how state-directed development can change the life chances of hundreds of millions, challenging neoliberal claims that markets alone can deliver inclusion.
New Indian Express
28-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
17th BRICS Summit: Bold words, blunt impact
If one were to go solely by the Declaration of the 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro without context, the Summit appears to be a roaring success. It hit the right notes on cooperation, projecting a cohesive voice for the Global South, and standing up to the Global North with calls for radical economic and governance reform. With the Declaration spanning over 100 clauses that cover the BRICS pillars of political and security, economic and financial, cultural and people-to-people cooperation, the Declaration at first glance appears both extensive and impressive. However, beneath the rhetoric, the document essentially reiterates past positions, which lack substance and fail to provide a clear roadmap for implementation. The core of the BRICS agenda has been to position and present itself as an alliance to counter Western dominance and advance Global South cooperation. The Declaration recognises the need for progressive tax reform to help reduce inequality. However, it limits itself to the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, while missing the opportunity to discuss and develop other mechanisms for just taxation, such as global corporate tax or programmes for regional tax cooperation among BRICS+ countries. The Declaration raises alarm about an increase in global military spending. It also reiterated BRICS' commitment to the peaceful resolution of international disputes through dialogue, consultation and diplomacy. It condemned the military strikes against Iran, a member of BRICS, in particular on 'peaceful nuclear facilities'. It called it a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, as well as relevant resolutions of the IAEA. It raised grave concern about the continuous Israeli attacks against Gaza, obstruction of the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory and use of starvation as a method of warfare, and called for adherence to international law. It called for negotiations to achieve an 'immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and all other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory'.
