Sixteen Annual Summit of the BRICS Plus concluded with many important messages to the world and commitment of deeper collaboration among BRICS and other global south Countries. Analysts have claimed that the success of 16th Summit clearly indicated that Russia is not alone, we live in a multipolar world and the Global South wants autonomy from western hegemony. It has taken the South-South Cooperation to a new height along with the adoption of the Kazan declaration. There was commitment against the western hegemony and US backed war in Ukraine, Palestine and middle east. Along with the progress made in the alternative payment mechanism on local currencies by Putin, Modi and Xi coming together, actually de-dollarization is not skeptic but can be a reality soon. BRICS plus has indicated an alternative world order.
The BRICS, which is an acronym for its members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The “+” was added to formally welcome into their fold five new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year in Kazan. Other more than two dozen Countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have also applied for membership as well. In the 16th Summit, 10 countries of the BRICS Plus including more than two dozen other countries that have applied for or are considering membership in the expanding club were invited to Kazan and attended the grand summit. This shows that the BRICS group has become a major political force against G7, US allied forces and Western Hegemony. Established in 2009, BRICS was founded on the premise that international institutions were overly dominated by Western powers and had ceased to serve developing countries.
Successfully held in Kazan, Russia from October 22-24 ,16th BRICS attracted a lot of attention from Western countries. This was the largest conference in Russia hosted by Putin since the NATO led Ukraine war started in 2022 and west put sanctions on Russia and isolated Putin. Leaders from 30 countries of the Global South attended to show that Russia is not isolated because of the Ukraine conflict.
The summit focused on boosting economic ties within the group, which accounts for a third of the world’s GDP, signaling that unilateral sanctions against members like Russia and Iran are not widely accepted. Agreements made included creating an interbank cooperation system, a grain exchange, a cross-border payment system, and expanding the BRICS New Development Bank, all aimed at finding alternatives to current global governance. The addition of new members like Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia shows that BRICS is a serious counterbalance to Western powers. While many BRICS countries have strong ties with the U.S. and Europe, they believe that global governance currently favors the West.
Beyond the summit’s main topics, BRICS allowed members to address bilateral issues, like tensions between Iran and the UAE or Egypt and Ethiopia. Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed easing tensions between India and China during side meetings at the summit.
The Kazan declaration gave the message to the world that peace is inevitable and war in Ukraine, Palestine and the Middle east should be ended. All BRICS leaders stood against the illegal sanctions imposed by western countries. The heart of the BRICS declaration was on the international financial systems’ reform which discussed de-dollarization as an alternative against global hegemony. The world, the streets from Beijing to Moscow are discussing BRICS while the leaders and analysts in Nepal are silent as if it is a crime to talk about BRICS. While the UN General Secretary went to address the BRICS summit, our PM and Cabinet may have thought that talking about BRICS may impact their relation with the IMF and USA.
Since both of Nepal’s neighbors China and India are members of BRICS and many countries in the South have already expressed interest to join BRICS, Nepal should speak up on BRICS. Actually, the foreign policy and diplomacy of Nepal aiming at fulfilling the national interest and people’s prosperity demands concrete steps and efforts to join BRICS. Countries like Nepal, severely impacted by the SWIFT banking system, dollar hegemony and
We have an overwhelming majority of trade with India and China. There is a huge prospect of having trade and other exchanges with Brazil and South Africa. Having India and China in BRICS makes our entry easy. Similarly, we have seen that the major reason for the financial crisis of dependent countries is the shortage of dollars. The Sri Lankan Crisis, recession in Pakistan and even shortage of dollars in Bangladesh should be a lesson for Nepal. Then, why are we not thinking of making payments in local currencies to India and China. Why should we pay for the US or the West when Nepal is trading with India or China. This is a simple question to people in power here in Nepal which members of BRICS are also raising. BRICS also explores huge opportunities for the countries of the South in the areas of grain exchange, technology transfer and development cooperation. With 40 % of the world population and more than 30% of the world economy, BRICS is going to be the massive informal platform for the Global South. Therefore, joining BRICS could offer several opportunities for Nepal in the areas of economic growth reducing dependency. Joining BRICS could provide Nepal with access to a larger market and investment opportunities from member countries, potentially boosting its economy. The most important and urgent need for Nepal is political support. We have seen that countries need political support when there is foreign aggression. Being part of BRICS may deepen Nepal relations with its neighbor and provide a platform for advocating its interests on regional and global issues. There may be many reasons to explore and discuss, but Nepal should step up and put some effort into discussing BRICS, the opportunities and Challenges for Nepal.