The entry of Indonesia into BRICS+ earlier this month makes it the 10th member of the China-dominated multilateral organisation. The group was formalised in 2006 with Brazil, Russia, India and China as its founding members. The first BRICS Summit was held in 2009. South Africa was the fifth country to enter the organisation in 2010. The first BRICS Summit was held in 2009.
In 2023, Argentina, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were also granted membership of BRICS. UAE, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia entered the group in January 2024 – Argentina refused membership of BRICS, while Saudi Arabia has not joined BRICS+ until now.
While Brazil the current chair of BRICS welcomed Indonesia by highlighting the latter’s role in pushing for reform of global institutions and strengthening South-South cooperation. Indonesia while commenting on its entry into BRICS+ as a full member said:
“Indonesia views its membership in BRICS as a strategic step to increase collaboration and cooperation with other developing countries, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and sustainable development.”
It would be pertinent to point out, that after taking over as Indonesia’s President, Subianto has visited China and the US. Subianto’s predecessor took a balanced stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and sought to act as a bridge between the West and the Global South. While commenting on Indonesia’s entry into BRICS+, Subianto made some important points. First, he highlighted the point that Indonesia wanted to “cool down” global geopolitical and economic rivalries. Second, he underscored the point that Indonesia was keen to emerge as a “bridge builder” between countries in the “Indo-Pacific” and developing countries. The ASEAN nation along with India was one of the key architects of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Indonesia is the first ASEAN country to enter BRICS+. Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are currently partner-countries and have applied for full membership of the organisation.
Need for caution and nuance
BRICS+ is a China-dominated organisation, but a few points need to be borne in mind
First, there have been strains between two of its important members India and China, in recent years, and this has resulted in India being realistic — not necessarily skeptical or dismissive — of the organisation. India is keen to foster economic cooperation under the umbrella of BRICS while also bearing in mind its recent strains with China and its growing economic and strategic proximity to the US in recent years.
India has also not been particularly enthusiastic vis-à-vis the idea of a shared BRICS currency. After incoming US President Donald Trump’s warnings regarding the imposition of tariffs, India has strongly reiterated its position that it does not seek to weaken the dollar. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar while commenting on the issue said:
“.. we have said that India has never been for de-dollarisation, right now there is no proposal to have a BRICS currency. The BRICS do discuss financial transactions… The US is our largest trade partner, we have no interest in weakening the dollar at all.”
Second, countries like UAE and Indonesia which are new entrants to the group have successfully balanced their relations between China and the West in recent years. These countries would want to benefit economically from BRICS+ but they would not want to get involved in the geopolitical wrangling of any sort. It would be pertinent to point out that UAE has firmly stated that it would not like to be in a position where it needs to make a choice between Washington and Beijing. Malaysia, another country which has applied for membership of BRICS+, has also emphatically stated this point on more than one occasion.
Third, it remains to be seen as to how incoming US President Donald Trump views cooperation between BRICS countries. Like India, several other members may adopt a cautious approach towards BRICS if ties between China and the US deteriorate during Trump 2.0.
In conclusion, while several members of BRICS would view the organisation as an important platform for bolstering economic linkages, they would not want it to become an anti-West platform.
[Photo by Prime Minister’s Office, India, via Wikimedia Commons]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Tridivesh Singh Maini is a New Delhi based analyst interested in Punjab-Punjab linkages as well as Partition Studies. Maini co-authored ‘Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition’ (New Delhi: UBSPD, 2008) with Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik. He can be reached at [email protected].
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