14th BRICS Summit, which concluded on June 24, revealed much about the Group of Five Emerging Countries. that This block of five different countries not only made it 14th summitT, however, has been able to demonstrate some concrete, though modest, results of cooperation, such as the rise of the New Development Bank (NDB), suggesting that there remains a strong convergence of interests amid undeniable differences. In fact, since the first summit meeting in Yekaterinburg in 2009, BRICS has had more than its fair share of opponents, especially in the West, and has been ridiculed as a talk shop. In his address to the summit on June 23, which was hosted by China and held virtually this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the binding glue as “a uniform approach to global governance”. According to the lengthy Joint Beijing Declaration that followed, this approach was based on “making the instruments of global governance more inclusive, representative and participatory”.
It is certainly a laudable goal. However, the NDB, which has funded nearly $30 billion worth of projects in emerging countries since its launch in 2015, is still a distinct example of their common interests for the group that translates into tangible results. This points to another summit: Despite a long agenda, the bloc is constrained by differences. For example, on two key issues for the grouping – UN reform and terrorism – member India and China have found themselves on opposing sides of the debate. India and Brazil have shared common cause in insisting on an expanded UN Security Council, yet China has suggested that it is not in favor of a permanent seat for India. On terrorism, China’s recent blocking of China’s attempt to ban Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki in the UNSC Sanctions Committee is a reminder of contrasting views. In fact, those two different approaches were found in the Beijing Declaration, which acknowledged India’s concerns over the lack of transparency in the sanctions committee and Chinese claims, driven by a desire to protect Pakistan, that these matters were “politicised”. were equal to. On Ukraine, the bloc reaffirmed its commitment to respect sovereignty, despite Russia’s actions, and stopped condemning NATO, as Russia and China have done, reflecting differing views within BRICS. These differences certainly cast doubt on the bloc’s higher goals of reorienting the global order. However, they do not suggest that BRICS countries cannot cooperate on issues where interests align, whether in funding projects, as the NDB has done, as has the NDB, working on climate change. As India and China have continued to do despite the LAC crisis, or even on space cooperation, where the five countries have agreed to build a joint set of remote sensing satellites.