Comprehensive Preview of What to Expect at the BRICS Summit

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Comprehensive Preview of What to Expect at the BRICS Summit

DW.com provides an in depth preview of what issues we can expect to see covered at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia. Below are a few selected quotes from the preview.

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"With a broad range of issues on the agenda - from the war on terror to economic development - Russian President Vladimir Putin will be hosting both the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS summits (an acronym standing for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on 9-10 July in the Russian city of Ufa.

Often seen as either too politically divided to warrant attention or, alternatively, considered as posing a great challenge to the Western-dominated world order, analysts believe the upcoming summits will offer an opportunity for both Russia and China to showcase both their resilience and intentions to play an increasing role in global financing and international politics."

. . . .

"So what exactly do Russia and China want? "There seems to be an attempt to boost cooperation between the SCO and the BRICS. Especially a 90-minute session between the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), BRICS and SCO as well as from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, is a sign that Russia is aiming for political block-building," Moritz Rudolf, a China foreign policy expert at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), told DW."

. . . . .

"For Beijing, an increased focus on the region is likely to not only strengthen its ties with these states, but also help to ease the pressure it is feeling to its east and south over territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Russia, on the other hand, will likely use the fact that the summits will be held simultaneously to send a diplomatic response to Western attempts to politically isolate Russia. "Hosting the heads of state from the most important emerging countries is a clear sign that Russia has not been completely isolated after all," said Rudolf."

. . . .

"The Chinese leadership also seems set on strengthening the economic dimension of the SCO. There has been talk of establishing a SCO development bank - about which Russia had formerly been skeptical. "Generally speaking China considers the BRICS and SCO groupings as important parallel-structures to existing US-led institutions. Strengthening these institutions will help Beijing in its pursuit to establish a multi-polar world," said the MERICS expert.

Moreover, the BRICS may advance cautiously on other elements of an agenda designed to strengthen the non-western-led financial system, including an alternative to SWIFT (the Belgium-based secure messaging system that facilitates cross-border financial transactions) aimed at reducing dependencies from the West. China could also propose more application of local currencies in intra-BRICS trade and even the financial fate of Greece may feature in the discussions, say analysts."