BRICS vs G7: China pushes for expansion of BRICS to become geopolitical rival of G7
Ahead of the BRICS summit, China has made its intention clear that the country will be pushing for the expansion of the grouping to build its presence as a geopolitical rival of G7
The upcoming BRICS summit will focus a lot on the plans of the expansion of the international grouping. Member nation China will be trying its best to push the BRICS bloc of emerging markets to evolves as a full-scale rival to the G7 this week, reported the Financial Times
The BRICS summit will take place in Johannesburg from Wednesday. It will be joined by several leaders of of the developing countries. Moreover, many countries have been invited to join the bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, etc.
Even before the beginning of the summit, there are hints that India and China will be at loggerheads over the expansion plan of the bloc. The two member nations who also share borders with each other will be debating on the issue in the summit, reported Australian Financial Review.
BRICS to turn into an anti-West forum?
Tensions were mounting whether the BRICS should remain a non-aligned club for economic interest of developing countries, or turn into a political force that openly challenges the West, reported AFR, citing sources who were earlier briefed on the positions of India and China.
“If we expand BRICS to account for a similar portion of world GDP as the G7, then our collective voice in the world will grow stronger,” a Chinese official told AFR. South Africa's foreign minister, Naledi Pandor stated the plan for the expansion of BRICS as an anti-Western move to be “extremely wrong”. On the other hand, South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his support for an expansion. Till now there has been no clarity on this agenda. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, alsso said that the expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations sharing a common desire. He also said that over 20 countries have applied for membership in BRICS.
In his tweet he also said that the value of BRICS extends beyond the interests of its current members. He mentioned the need for BRICS to expand for more effective efforts.
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