BRICS will help create a multipolar world

Context

• India and Brazil will discuss ways to advance the priorities of the Global South in the coming days, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his five-nation visit beginning on Wednesday.

• Mr. Modi, who will attend the BRICS summit to be held in Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro during the trip, said the summit will help create a “balanced multipolar world order”. He further said the five-nation visit will help strengthen cooperation within the Global South. The Prime Minister is expected to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit as well.

• “As a founding member, India is committed to BRICS as a vital platform for cooperation among emerging economies. Together, we strive for a more peaceful, equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order,” said Mr. Modi in a departure statement as he boarded the official aircraft that landed in Ghana for a bilateral visit.

• The Prime Minister will also visit Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, and Namibia, before concluding the trip on July 9.

• According to Ghanaian news outlet Graphic.com.gh, the Foreign Minister of Ghana Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had announced that Mr. Modi will receive the country’s highest state honour, the Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana, during the visit.

• Previous recipients of the honour include the late French President Jacques Chirac, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva of Brazil, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and former Namibian President Sam Nujoma.

BRICS

• BRICS is a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa formed in 2010.

• In 2001, British economist Jim O’Neill coined the term ‘BRIC’, standing for the initials of four emerging economies at the time – Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

• The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia in July 2006.

• In September 2006, the group was formalised as BRIC.

• The first formal meeting was held in 2009 in Russia.

• South Africa joined BRIC in 2010 and then it became BRICS

• The BRICS grouping has recently included five new members.

• The members are Iran, UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt and Indonesia.

• Over 40 countries have formally or informally expressed interest in joining an expanded BRICS.

• It reflects the anger in the global South countries about their place in the world.

• The expansion of the group would represent a major shake-up of the existing world order.

West African bloc - Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

• ECOWAS is a regional grouping aimed to promote economic integration and shared development of the West African sub-region.

• It was established in May 1975 by 15 West African countries in Lagos, Nigeria.

• Founding members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sénégal, and Togo.

• Headquarters: Abuja, Nigeria.

• India has a long-standing relationship with ECOWAS and was given the status of observer in 2004.

• In 2006, India gave the grouping a line of credit (LoC) worth USD 250 million.

• ECOWAS has also supported India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

• The West African nations of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

• The three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States, seeking military support from Russia and distancing themselves from the US and France.

• The Sahel is a semiarid region (western and north-central Africa), a transitional zone between the Sahara desert (north) and humid savannas (south).