BRICS eyes global geopolitical shift; Indonesia, Bangladesh to attend
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The much-awaited summit will mark the most impacting meeting the organization has held so far.
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A view of a reflection on a window of a man staring at the sea in front of the national flags of the BRICS countries during the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cape Town, on June 02, 2023 (AFP)
South Africa's Johannesburg will be hosting BRICS leaders this week as the bloc eyes placing a number of world-impacting projects in motion as part of plans to steer the global political scene from Western centuries-long hegemony.
"The traditional global governing system has become dysfunctional, deficient and missing in action," Chen Xiaodong, the Chinese ambassador to the capital Pretoria, told reporters on Friday, adding that the group is "increasingly becoming a staunch force in defending international justice."
Chinese President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to arrive in the African country soon to attend the 3-day summit starting on Tuesday.
Notably, Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world with the largest Muslim population and South East Asia's biggest economy, and Bangladesh, the 8th most populous country worldwide, the 4th in terms of its Muslim population, and the second-largest economy in South Asia, announced that they will also be taking part in the event.
"Indonesia has been invited to the BRICS summit and of course, in between the BRICS summit there will be meetings with other world leaders," the country's President Joko Widodo told reporters ahead of his departure.
Read more: Macron's invitation to attend South Africa's BRICS Summit not granted
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, will be joining remotely, citing a busy schedule to attend to urgent matters in the at-war country. Putin was targeted earlier with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, leaving South Africa with no choice but to enforce it, being a signatory to the intergovernmental organization.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to Johannesburg instead.
The heads of 70 nations received invites to the unification meeting from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The international body has become more attractive to countries, given that its founding members represent more than 40% of the world's population and around 23% of its economy.
Among the decisions expected at the summit is the expansion of the bloc and official welcoming new members. A portion of the summit will also be held in a closed-door setting.
Anil Sooklal, South Africa's Ambassador for Asia and BRICS, revealed earlier that 22 nations have formally applied to join BRICS and another 23 have informally expressed interest in joining.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran submitted applications, while countries interested include Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Indonesia.
Read more: BRICS expansion to strengthen organization: Kremlin
One of the main reasons is "the very polarised world we live in, that has been further polarised by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and where countries are being forced to take sides," Anil Sooklal told AFP earlier this week.
"Countries in the South don't want to be told who to support, how to behave and how to conduct their sovereign affairs. They are strong enough now to assert their respective positions," he said, adding that BRICS offered a path for nations aiming to shift current global "architecture".
"The major markets are now in the Global South... but we are still on the margins in terms of global decision-making."
Lebogang Legodi, a political expert and professor at the University of Limpopo, shared Sooklal's view.
Many countries expressing a desire to join "are seeing BRICS as an alternative to the current hegemony" in world affairs.
Read more: Iran holds meeting with BRICS members ahead of South Africa summit
The summit will also include a "Friends of BRICS" programme, which will be held at a conference center in Johannesburg as well.
This year's meeting centers around "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism" and comes at "a critical inflection point," said Steven Gruzd of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
"The current multilateral system is under strain."
Ramaphosa said during a Saturday convention of the ANC ruling party that "we are going to have a fantastic BRICS summit."
The large attendance "goes to show the influence and the impact that South Africa" has in the world.
But Gruzd said he is doubtful that major decisions will be made during the meeting.
"I don't think this summit will yield those dramatic results because the power is still with Western countries. China is rising, but is not the dominant power yet."
