Media
commentary in India on the fifth BRICS Summit, held in South Africa on March
27th, has not been particularly positive. Attention has been drawn to the
artificial character of this grouping originally thought up by Goldman Sachs,
the conflicting interests of its constituents, the disparate nature of their
political systems, the doubtful advantages to India of membership, and, now
fears of Chinese domination of this ensemble because of its overwhelming
economic and financial weight.
If
the logic of this criticism were to be accepted, it will apply partially to the
United Nations, the IMF and the World Bank too, where differences in the
political systems, power equations and interests of countries are even more
marked, with the influence of one country-the United States- being the most
decisive. The G-20 also cannot be exempt from such criticism too. Yet India is
a member of all these international organizations or groupings, without
self-questioning.
Nature
The
perceived anti-West orientation of BRICS is troubling for some. True, the
Russians pushed for its creation in order to forge a partnership between major
non-western countries to promote multipolarity. Members like India- and this
would apply to Brazil and South Africa as well- believe in a reform of the
West-dominated international system in which their voice is not sufficiently
heard. Groupings like BRICS can act as platforms for calls for change, without
the three countries in question slipping into any futile anti-westernism.
We
should not overuse the democracy argument to question our cohabitation with
China and Russia in BRICS. If we are supposedly in bad company, then it is
worth recalling that US financial and economic links with China, or those of
major European democracies, are incomparably greater than ours. We should also
be careful not to buy into the highly tendentious western criticism of Russian
democracy for geopolitical reasons.
We
are against policies of regime change, interference in the internal affairs of
sovereign countries, politicization of human rights issues and doctrines of
humanitarian intervention etc. India-Russia annual summit declarations show
congruence of thinking on the principles that should govern international
relations. With Brazil and South Africa too we have such consonance. The BRICS
platform enables all of us to project our opposition to western efforts to
create new, destabilizing norms.
In
BRICS only India and China have sharp bilateral differences. Should we be in a
grouping that provides space to China to expand its influence internationally,
eventually at our expense? Russia too should have similar concerns
theoretically, but it is working closely with China politically, economically
and, once again, militarily, as the decision to sell it 24 SU-35 aircraft, the
very that lost out in competition for the supply of 126 aircraft to us, shows.
This is discomforting for us as it devalues the relative importance of
India-Russia relations to China’s advantage.
Despite
this negative feature of BRICS for us, there are clear strategic advantages of
membership. BRICS is an instrument of pressure for change in the international
system. The eThekwani Declaration calls for new models and approaches as
regards global governance. It notes the negative spillover effects of the
monetary policy of US, Europe and Japan which have led to increased volatility
of capital flows, currencies and commodity prices, with negative growth effects
in developing countries. It calls for prioritizing the G20 development agenda.
It expresses concern at the slow pace of IMF reforms and demands that
International Financial Institutions should reflect in their structures the
growing weight of BRICS and other developing countries. The core principles and
the developmental mandate of the Doha Round are stressed, besides asking that
the next Director-General of the WTO should be a representative of a developing
country. All this reflects India’s thinking and interests.
Declaration
The
declaration calls for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security
Council, with Russia and China reiterating the importance they attach to the
status of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and
supporting their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN. This kind of
patronizing formulation was not needed by India, which is less than what Russia
offers us bilaterally.
The
eThekwani declaration is moderate, with no anti-western bias. The paragraph on
Syria is balanced; the one on Palestine repeats standard formulations. On Iran,
there is a call for a negotiated solution, with concern expressed about threats
of military action as well as unilateral sanctions. The paragraph on terrorism
accords with India’s position. The one on Afghanistan is unobjectionable. The
paragraph on climate change is non-controversial. The importance of peaceful,
secure, and open cyberspace through universally accepted norms, standards and
practices is emphasized.
Steps
Because
the summit was held in Durban, the focus on Africa in the proceedings- with
participation of several African countries in discussions- and the final
declaration is prominent.
The
decision to set up a New Development Bank with substantial and sufficient
initial contribution to finance infrastructure in emerging and developing
countries has attracted adverse attention, as if working outside the World Bank
or ADB is unacceptable. Differences over the size of funding and fears of
Chinese domination have been highlighted. A Contingent Reserve Arrangement
(CRA) with an initial size of 100 billion US $ to help BRICS countries
forestall short-term liquidity pressures has also been established. These are
steps in the right direction.
We
should not be dismissive about the declared aim of progressively developing
BRICS into a full-fledged mechanism of current and long-term coordination on a
wide range of key issues of the world economy and politics. This is part of our
sensible policy of playing on all chess boards with prudence, calibration and
no ideological bias.
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See more at:
http://www.vifindia.org/article/2013/april/09/donot-deny-brics-its-relevance#sthash.2Y9Hz1ak.dpuf
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