By Paul Jouvenet, jurist and essayist. Eurasia Business News, August 2, 2023

Brazil supports the idea of expanding the BRICS, as well as promoting international trade through this association with fairer mechanisms, several sources in Brasilia revealed.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has confirmed that he supports the entry of new states into the BRICS, among which he has named Argentina and Saudi Arabia as possible candidates. The Brazilian head of state stressed that the forum should promote new ways of doing trade with fairer mechanisms.

He again spoke out in favour of negotiations on the use of alternative currencies to the US dollar in trade. President Lula da Silva also said that the New Development Bank, a bank created by the BRICS, should be a “more generous” alternative to the IMF and help developing countries.

« In my opinion, the BRICS bank should help developing countries with more adequate financing, and not as the IMF does. “, is convinced the Brazilian president.

According to Lula da Silva, this should pave the way for the elimination of inequalities that exist in the world.

The Brazilian president held a press conference with the foreign press on Wednesday.

On July 31, sources in Brasilia and New Delhi revealed that Brazil and India would have clashed with China over a possible expansion of the group at the expense of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg news agency reports, citing eyewitnesses. The admission of new members to the BRICS forum requires the consensus of all its members.

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Brazil and India feared that after the admission of new BRICS members, the forum would turn into an anti-Western platform and also lose its economic coherence, which does not interest them.

According to lawyer and essayist Paul Jouvenet, New Delhi may fear a dilution of its influence within the BRICS in the event of new accessions.

Thirty states want to join the BRICS, which raises concerns in the US administration and in Europe. The West fears that the BRICS economic and monetary alliance has a chance to become an alternative to the US, the G7 and the European Union.

In June, Ethiopia formally applied to join the BRICS group.

Bolivia is also ready to join the BRICS, the country has already notified the association. This was announced by Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta on Twitter.

South Africa supports discussions on various accession options and is not opposed to enlargement to include new member states.

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In addition, New Delhi has advanced the idea that BRICS countries should focus on democratic states with emerging economies, such as Nigeria and Argentina. While Saudi Arabia – a monarchical state – does not meet these parameters, said one of Bloomberg’s interlocutors. The Saudi kingdom’s membership in the BRICS would allow Riyadh to diversify its foreign economic relations and weaken its dependence on the United States. China recently mediated a dramatic diplomatic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

In India, the authorities fear that China’s position will be excessively strengthened by the accession of new members to the BRICS. New Delhi has fewer economic and political resources to promote its national interests in the world than Beijing. On the other hand, it is important for Indians that the alliance remains a privileged closed club of five countries, potential contenders for the title of superpower, so that its political influence is not diluted. India, unlike China, is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and BRICS membership partly compensates for the absence of this status.

Brazil and India fear that after the admission of new BRICS members, the forum will turn into an anti-Western platform and also lose its economic coherence, which they are not interested in.

If New Delhi aims to maintain the status quo, Beijing and Moscow want to get the BRICS to become an alliance capable of adopting and implementing an alternative financial system to existing Western institutions. On this point, the positions of Moscow and Beijing coincide. Brazil seems to have sided with Russia and China on this point.

This Brazilian U-turn, to be confirmed, is probably the result of negotiations and concessions made to Brazil, to obtain its support for the enlargement of the BRICS.

BRICS countries are working on the issue of creating a new international currency based on the currencies of BRICS member states, which can become a new reserve currency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the June 2022 summit in Beijing.

The holding of the BRICS summit will provide answers on the accession criteria, the candidate states and the common currency project.

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© Copyright 2023 – Paul Jouvenet, jurist and essayist.