Daily Times

A bigger BRICS may soon become a reality. Representing 40 per cent of the world’s population and 23 per cent of global GDP with countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa appear ready to open their front door to a string of medium-sized countries with decent holding in the financial picture. With more than 40 interested and as many as 22 formal applications (from countries as diverse as Iran and Argentina), those leading the developing countries finally agreed on the matter of expansion through “guidelines and principles” in a bid to champion the cause of Global South. Although there should be no reservations about the prospects of earning greater global clout, especially when considering the significance of BRICS as a viable counterweight to the West, New Delhi has registered its apprehensions on numerous occasions. Indian concerns on the issue were even reflected last year when a declaration at the BRICS summit countered the suggestion to increase the pool with “carefully-thought-out objective criteria.” On one hand, these countries aim to knock the dollar off its throne as a shield against international financial turbulence. Seeking to reduce the use of the dollar, a symbol of Western hegemony, in their economies, all five tigers are in a race to leave an impression that lasts the most. But this apprehension towards new additions, which could definitely help their de-dollarisation endgame, is yet to be demystified. That India does not wish to be attached to the Chinese-led anti-American bloc, especially when it has, in the recent days, demonstrated a new resolve to taking its bilateral relationship with the US to a new level, is the only reasonable argument. Everything else is just an illusion. *