15th BRICS SummitThe 15th BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from August 22-24, 2023. This was the first in person BRICS leaders Summit since 2019.

The 15th BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from August 22-24, 2023. This was the first in person BRICS leaders Summit since 2019. BRICS was founded in 

, with the founding members being Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa had joined BRICS in 2010 (the organization accounts for  over 

Before the commencement of the 15th BRICS Summit, differences between the two key member states India and China were evident over whether BRICS should expand its 

BRICS invitation to six countries to join organisation

 With an eye on creating an alternative to existing international institutions, China has been pushing for expansion of the grouping. 40 countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cuba and Algeria had expressed interest in joining 

. On August 24, 2023 BRICS members invited six 

 -- Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to join the organization as full members.

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa while commenting on the expansion of BRICS 

“As five BRICS countries, we have reached an agreement on guiding principles standards criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process which has been in discussion for quite a while. We have consensus on the first phase of this process and other phases will follow”

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the 

 of new countries dubbing it as historic.

India’s stance regarding expansion of BRICS

 Indian PM Narendra Modi commenting on the expansion of the five member grouping said that India had 

 expansion. At the plenary session of BRICS, the Indian PM said that India would support expansion of BRICS subject to the fact, that it was based on consensus. Before the commencement of the Johannesburg Summit, India had expressed scepticism vis-à-vis expansion of the group, and even during the Johannesburg meeting it pushed for having clear 

India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war has been different from that of the west, and it has pitched for the need for giving a greater voice to the Global South – as chair of G20. While speaking at the BRICS plenary session, India praised 

 role in giving importance to countries of the Global South. Modi also said that India as 

 has been highlighting issues of the Global South.

India would be uncomfortable with BRICS being utilized by 

 for increasing its influence. In the aftermath of the 

, in 2020 the space for serious cooperation between India and China is limited not bilaterally, but even on multilateral platforms. During a conversation with Xi, on the sidelines of the Johannesburg meet, Modi put forward India’s concerns on the unresolved issues along the 

 in the western sector of the India-China border areas.

The difference in approach of China and India vis-à-vis the West was also evident from Chinese Commerce Minister 

’s address at the BRICS Business Forum  :

 “..some country obsessed with maintaining its hegemony has gone out of its way to cripple the emerging markets and developing countries. Whoever is developing fast, becomes its target of containment, whoever is catching up becomes its target of obstruction”.

If the expansion of BRICS leads to Chinese domination of the organization, there is a possibility India will further strengthen ties with the west.

While dubbing BRICS as merely an acronym or ‘

 – as some of the sceptics believe -- may be simplistic in the current geopolitical environment, it remains to be seen how strains between India and China will impact the functioning of the group. It also remains to be seen, if the entry of countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates which share good ties with both India and China can be beneficial for BRICS.

India-China tensions and BRICS expansion

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