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IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
BRICS countries unite to blunt Trump's bullying
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in discussion at the XVII BRICS Summit held on July 07, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Image: GCIS Kim Heller BRICS is a rising superpower. With an enviable geopolitical footprint across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, the BRICS countries collectively account for over 45% of global GDP. The 17th BRICS Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro this week, showcased the bloc's immense potential and steady growth. The Rio Declaration, adopted at the summit, sets out a compelling vision for a more equitable global economic matrix. The summit paraded BRICS as an ardent king-in-waiting in a royal quest for a global economic renaissance. It appears as if BRICS is shaping up, despite its internal economic and ideological asymmetries. There was an atmosphere of confidence and prowess at the summit, accompanied by a greater measure of strategic cohesion than in previous summits. The President of Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, spoke of BRICS as a 'set of countries that want to find another way of organising the world from the economic perspective." The President of Brazil declared, "The world has changed. We don't want an emperor." Echoing this sentiment, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, who joined the meeting remotely, stated, "Everything indicates that the model of liberal globalisation is becoming obsolete. The centre of business activity is shifting towards the emerging markets." The architecture of today's global financial world is engineered to favour the Global North. According to the World Bank, the Global South accounted for 40% of global trade in 2024; however, its average tariffs of 6.5% were significantly higher than the 2.5% average for developed economies. The United States and the European Union continue to rule over the IMF and World Bank, while G7 countries dictate the global economic to shift inequalities and imbalances in the world's economic matrix and recalibrate global monetary policy, the BRICS summit focused on reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar and stimulating local currencies, trade, and investment. This includes a ten billion U.S. dollar investment platform via the New Development Bank to drive, incentivise, and boost trade and infrastructural development within and across BRICS nations. Multilateral guarantees will help reduce financing costs. To achieve more equitable monetary policies, practices, and participation, BRICS reiterated its call for stronger representation on the United Nations Security Council and for IMF quota reforms to be implemented by the end of the year. Trade statistics of BRICS countries. Image: Graphic News The Rio de Janeiro Declaration reiterated the need for developed nations to fulfil their climate change obligations. China and the UAE committed to supporting Brazil's "Tropical Forests Forever" Africa's President, Cyril Ramaphosa, described BRICS as a platform for sovereign economic coordination free from geopolitical coercion. But U.S. President Donald Trump wasted no time in threatening countries that aligned with "anti-American BRICS policies" with an additional 10% tariff. He has stated that BRICS was created to destroy the U.S. dollar. Several BRICS leaders have retaliated, condemning the weaponisation of tariffs. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that the arbitrary increase in tariffs does not serve anyone. He spoke of the dollar's domination as more than just an economic issue. "It is a 'geopolitical chokehold." Speaking out against Trump's new tariff warning, President Ramaphosa said, "There needs to be greater appreciation of the emergence of various centres of power in the world, as the declaration observed, and this should be seen in a positive light rather than in a negative light." Ramaphosa also stated that "These powers should be seen as complementary, as advancing the interests of people.' Donald Trump cannot conceive of a world where the dollar is not the gold standard. But a new world is waiting to be born. It may not be tomorrow, but it is in the making. Reflecting on the BRICS Summit, President Narendra Modi of India spoke about how the moment reaffirmed the commitment to shared growth. He said, "The Global South isn't begging for fairness, it's demanding it. The economic order's bias is a relic, and BRICS is ready to rewrite the rules.' The re-engineering of power relations is vital for BRICS, as U.S. dollar dependence creates and reinforces economic power inequalities and imbalances, keeping the Global South hooked on a global order that treats it as a junior partner. However, for now, BRICS is no match for the U.S. With many of its member states highly dependent on U.S. markets and trade, de-dollarisation has little currency for now. It is unlikely that countries such as India and Brazil, as well as newcomers Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will compromise their economic relations with the U.S. in the short to medium term. The U.S. dollar is King for now. There will be small, gradual wins for BRICS. Already, the lion's share of Russia's trade with BRICS partners is dollar-free. China is currently using BRICS Pay, albeit on a small-scale, pilot basis. However, with low currency swaps and conversions, and poor equity, the grand plans for a shared BRICS currency and a SWIFT alternative are remote. This may change over time. De-dollarisation will need to be correctly paced, especially given the vastly different relations member states have with the U.S. The process of de-dollarisation and the overhaul of the global economic system is likely to be slow and laboured and distinctly uneven across different member states, economic sectors, and industries. Trump's distasteful bully boy tactics will eventually wear thin, and U.S. relations will falter. The bloc's challenge is to keep its diverse assembly of member states united around a common vision of a world where the Global South will be the leading player in world economic affairs. BRICS needs to play the long game. * Kim Heller is a political analyst and author of No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
PM Modi Takes A Veiled Dig At Trump, Calls Out Western Hypocrisy on Terror, Gets Backing From Brazil
At the 17th BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a powerful message on terrorism, indirectly calling out Western nations' selective outrage and double standards in dealing with global terror. Without naming names, PM Modi said condemning terrorism should be a matter of principle, not convenience, in what many view as a veiled criticism of former US President Donald Trump's recent meeting with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. PM Modi stressed the need for zero tolerance towards terrorism, sanctions against terrorists without hesitation, and consistency between words and actions. His remarks came as BRICS leaders, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, jointly condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, adopting the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which rejected double standards in counterterror efforts.#pmmodi #narendramodi #modispeech #modistatement #modionterror #donaldtrump #modibrics #terrorism #zerotolerance #bricssummit2025 #trumpasimmunir #pahalgamattack #riodeclaration #globalterrorism #bricsnews #toi #toibharat #bharat #trending #breakingnews #indianews Read More
Malaysia Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Malaysia Sun
BRICS moves to expand Global South cooperation for inclusive, sustainable global governance
At the 17th BRICS Summit, leaders emphasized strengthening multilateralism, reforming global governance, and empowering the Global South through deeper cooperation, expanded membership, and opposition to unilateralism and protectionism. RIO DE JANEIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of BRICS countries, gathering here on Sunday and Monday for the 17th BRICS Summit, reiterated their commitments to reforming and improving global governance by expanding Global South cooperation. The meeting adopted the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which calls for strengthening multilateralism and reforming global governance, promoting peace, security and international stability, as well as deepening international economic, trade and financial cooperation. Addressing the summit's plenary session themed "Peace and Security and Reform of Global Governance" on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on BRICS countries to strive to become pioneers in advancing the reform of global governance, safeguard world peace and tranquility, and boost the peaceful settlement of disputes. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the global governance vision of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, offering China's solution to the global governance challenge. Ten years on, the vision has gained growing global influence as transformations unseen in a century are accelerating in the world. "The world has entered a new phase of major turbulent changes, and the international order is undergoing a significant reorganization. Following its expansion, the BRICS mechanism will unite efforts to promote common development, defend multilateralism and contribute more to building a more equitable global governance system," said Boris Guseletov, a senior researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Li also called for commitment to building an open world economy and stressed the importance of opposing unilateralism and protectionism when addressing the plenary sessions. The Chinese premier noted that the current international economic and trade order, along with the multilateral trading system, is facing severe challenges, and the global economic recovery remains arduous. Greater BRICS cooperation must stay true to its founding purpose, meet the needs of the times, uphold and practice multilateralism, promote the establishment of an equitable and open international economic and trade order, pool efforts in the Global South, and make greater contributions to global stability and development, he said. Amid rising global trade tensions, the 17th BRICS Summit toughened the bloc's key role in promoting fairer economic practices, said Balew Demissie, a researcher with the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute. BRICS offers a unified platform that supports multilateral trade, promotes intra-bloc commerce and facilitates the use of local currencies, thus reducing reliance on limited markets, he added. The leaders attending the plenary sessions agreed that the BRICS cooperation mechanism has been growing stronger and more representative, with its international influence rising steadily. It has provided an important platform for Global South countries to defend their right to development, uphold international fairness and justice, and participate in the reform of the global governance system, they said. "BRICS is increasingly shaping global debates on development, multipolar governance and security matters," said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday. "With our broad geographical footprint and growing influence, BRICS is uniquely positioned to advocate for reform in global governance structures." Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement that BRICS, which has emerged as a strong and principled force, represents an opportunity to shape a more balanced and just international order, noting that legacy international organizations need to be reformed to reflect the changing global realities and take into account the aspirations of developing nations. Furthermore, the expansion of BRICS symbolized a qualitative leap in its representativeness and influence. In January this year, Indonesia, the largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), officially joined BRICS. By now, BRICS countries account for over half of the world's population, nearly 30 percent of global GDP, and more than 50 percent of global economic growth. This signifies a historic shift of the Global South power from the periphery to the center of the international arena. "If we want the international system to be more diverse, fair and democratic, it is important that the Global South has more power to act and have a voice," said Alessandra Scangarelli Brites, editor-in-chief of Brazil's Intertelas Magazine. "This does not mean fighting for power to have control over others, but to have equal action and to have its positions and interests heard and met in a space of greater equality, independence and respect for the sovereignty of countries," the editor-in-chief added. During talks with other leaders on the sidelines of the summit, the Chinese premier voiced China's readiness to push for a greater role of the Global South in improving global governance. When meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a day before the summit, Li said China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Brazil within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, BRICS and the G20, work in unity with developing countries to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and provide more certainty and stability for the world. In his meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Li noted that both China and Ethiopia are important Global South countries, and China will join hands with Ethiopia to strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks, boost concerted efforts by all parties to practice true multilateralism, firmly safeguard economic globalization and free trade, and inject more stability and positive energy into the world. After the plenary sessions, Li met with Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and said China will, as always, continue to practice and safeguard multilateralism and free trade, actively support the reform and development of the WTO to restore its authority, accelerate the improvement of trade rules, and push for more concrete outcomes of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference. "Instead of unilateralism and protectionism, the BRICS countries reaffirmed the importance of cooperation and an open economy so that all countries can achieve development and collective security," said Marcos Cordeiro Pires, a professor of political and economic sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences of the Sao Paulo State University. BRICS countries are striving for new global governance and a global framework that is inclusive, representative and anchored in the principles of sovereignty, equality and peaceful coexistence. "The demand for new global governance is not a whim, but a process of historical reparation. The BRICS offers a platform for inclusive cooperation, removed from hegemony and closer to the principles of multipolarity," said Jhonathan Mattos, an associate professor at the Department of International Relations, Rio de Janeiro State University. "It's a model of multilateralism, multipolarity, regional integration and the identity of shared demands," Mattos said.
India Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
India's triumph at Brics: PM unites summit against terrorism, pushes reforms
India emerged as a leading voice at the 17th Brics Summit in Brazil, securing a unanimous condemnation of terrorism and pushing for urgent reforms in global governance institutions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation shaped the summit's agenda, particularly spotlighting the fight against summit, themed 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for Inclusive and Sustainable Governance,' concluded with the adoption of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which reflected many of India's strategic concerns. It delivered a sharp message on cross-border terrorism, while also highlighting the contradictions in China's the session on Peace and Security, PM Modi condemned the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. He described it as an 'assault on humanity.' The Brics declaration echoed this sentiment, denouncing the attack in the 'strongest terms' and rejecting 'double standards' in countering terrorism. The declaration called for decisive action against UN-designated terrorists and those who fund or shelter them—an implicit reference to Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism. Speaking at a press conference, Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said India's diplomatic efforts ensured that Para 34 of the declaration captured a united stand against terrorism, including those who 'abet, finance, covertly or overtly.'The reference to the 'cross-border movement of terrorists' served as a direct nod to India's longstanding concerns. The PM said that 'victims and supporters of terrorism cannot be weighed on the same scale,' and called for sanctions on those who aid terrorists. All 11 Brics members and partner countries expressed solidarity, marking a diplomatic win for China's dual role drew criticism. While Beijing joined the condemnation of the Pahalgam attack, it continues to shield Pakistan by blocking UN designations of Pakistan-based terrorists. PM Modi's pointed remark against those offering 'silent consent' to terrorism for political gain appeared to target this inconsistency. Though Chinese Premier Li Qiang led the delegation in place of President Xi Jinping, India's assertive diplomacy ensured that terrorism remained central to the summit's the security agenda, India led the charge for reforming global institutions. The PM called for a 'multipolar and inclusive world order' and stressed the need to overhaul the UN Security Council, IMF, World Bank, and WTO to reflect current global realities. According to Dammu Ravi, Para 6 of the declaration 'strongly endorsed' this demand, and highlighted the roles of India and Brazil in elevating the voice of the Global also advanced a proposal for a Brics science and research repository to secure critical mineral supply chains and develop responsible AI, in line with its commitment to sustainable development. In bilateral talks with countries like Malaysia, Cuba, South Africa, and Vietnam, the Prime Minister promoted collaboration in digital infrastructure such as UPI and the integration of India prepares to assume the Brics leadership in 2026, PM Modi's leadership at the summit has cemented its image as a global advocate against terrorism and a proponent of equitable governance. While challenges remain, especially with China's contradictory actions, the summit outcomes marked a strong endorsement of India's priorities.- Ends IN THIS STORY#BRICS
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Making Brics count: Summit highlighted diminishing global relevance
The lengthy, nearly 16,000-word Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which followed the summit, made all the right noises about "inclusive and sustainable" governance Business Standard Editorial Comment Mumbai Listen to This Article The joint statement issued by the Brics summit, hosted by Brazil, may have attracted the ire of United States (US) President Donald Trump for its criticism of the bombing of Iran and tariff-based protectionism. But this unexpected attention from an erratic US President does not detract from doubts about the grouping's relevance. The catchy acronym Bric was coined by a Goldman Sachs economist in 2001 to designate a group of prominent emerging markets in Brazil, Russia, India, and China. This grouping first met in a formal summit in 2009; South Africa's attendance at the second summit in 2010 rounded off
