The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, and China convened on Wednesday for the 12th BRICS conference. Held virtually this time due to the ongoing pandemic, Jair Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Xi Jinping spoke at length on issues like terrorism, the coronavirus pandemic, reform of international institutions, multilateralism, and economic recovery. The meeting was chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. India will take over the chairmanship of BRICS next year and will host the 13th BRICS Summit; the country has previously headed the organization in 2012 and 2016.
India
In a reiteration of what he said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on November 10, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi once again made a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan when he said that terrorism represents the world’s greatest threat. He said, “We have to ensure that terrorists and those who support and sponsor terrorists should be held guilty and this problem is addressed in a collective manner.” On this front, he expressed his gratitude to Russia for supporting the BRICS’ counter-terrorism strategy.
At the same time, Modi also remarked on the need for urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in order to create ‘credible’ and ‘effective’ institution that oversees global governance. Although India is set to enter a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC early next year, it is simultaneously seeking permanent membership to the exclusive grouping.
Aside from the UN, the Indian leader also spoke of reforming the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to foster more effective cooperation between member-states during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. ‘Field trials’ of Russa’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine are set to be launched in Uttar Pradesh next week, and India has worked to secure vaccine access for countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Modi spoke of the need for similar reforms within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well.
Highlighting the importance of BRICS, he noted that the participating nations account for 42% of the world’s population, describing them as the “major engines of the world”. Hence, he called on member-states to bolster bilateral and multilateral trade amongst each other. To this point, he touted his ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ program to the BRICS members, stressing that a “self-reliant and resilient” India will become a “force multiplier” in the world order, but said that this process would be more easily achieved through greater foreign investment and collaboration. This echoes similar statements made by Modi at the Virtual Global Investor Roundtable two weeks ago, when he invited greater foreign investment to drive India’s economic growth.
Modi also noted that the development of “emerging market economies” must be supported by ensuring low prices for “required resources such as oil and gas”, providing incentives for “physical and social infrastructure and renewable energy programs” through the New Development Bank, and facilitating the “movement of skilled workers” across borders.
China
President Xi Jinping underscored the unprecedented nature of the current “international landscape” and how this has impacted not only public health, but also international trade and investment. He remarked that this has in turn led to the biggest recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Against this backdrop, he warned that there is an urgent need to fight back against “rampant” unilateralism, protectionism, and “acts of bullying” in order to ‘narrow’ the “deficit in governance, trust, development, and peace”.
In what appeared to be a reference to the United States and the Donald Trump administration, he said that “unilateralism and power politics will inflate dispute and confrontation”, adding that “withdrawing from international organizations and agreements run counter to the will of the general public and trample on the legitimate rights and dignity of all nations”.
Accordingly, the Chinese leader emphasized on the importance of ‘safeguarding’ a “UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law”. Furthermore, he stressed that countries must “rise above ideology and respect each other’s choices of social system, economic model and development path consistent with their national conditions”, which is no doubt a reference to international criticism of China’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, enactment of the new national security law in Hong Kong, actions in the South China Sea (SCS), and its trade and currency practices.
In the face of growing and worldwide resistance to coronavirus-induced restrictions, Xi underlined that we must “stand in unity and follow science” so that we can “control the spread of the virus and offset its impact”. He welcomed the WHO’s COVAX initiative, and lauded the multilateral cooperation between China, Russia, and Brazil as they enter the final stages of phase-III of clinical trials of coronavirus vaccines. At the same time, he said that China is “prepared to have cooperation with South Africa and India as well”. He also said that China will “actively consider” providing its vaccines to BRICS countries “if there is need”.
Seeking to address the blame that has been placed at China’s feet for a virus that originated in Wuhan, Xi warned against “acts of politicization, stigmatization, blame-shifting and scapegoating”, saying that they would only “disrupt overall cooperation against the virus”.
Aside from public health, he said that there is a growing need for economic cooperation as well. He pointed to the fact that the IMF has predicted a 4.4% contraction of the world economy, that the World Bank has forecasted a 3.6% decrease in global per capita income, and that between 88 million and 115 million people are now at risk of being “pushed into extreme poverty due to the pandemic”. In what was an apparent reference to the US and perhaps a more veiled reference to India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, he warned against “de-globalization”, “economic decoupling”, and “parallel systems”.
Following China’s recent announcement that it would aim to achieve a peak in CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, Xi Jinping also indicated the importance of “pursuing green and low-carbon development” and of abiding by the terms of the Paris Climate Accords.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Indian PM Modi’s veiled reference to Pakistan, and added, “(there is) always a black sheep in the family... some people try to impose their own agenda.”
The majority of his speech, however, was centered around Russia’s coronavirus vaccines, which he says “work effectively and safely”. This follows a recent announcement by Pfizer, which is developing one of the Russian-made vaccines, that Sputnik V is 92% effective. Although Russia invited severe international criticism in August when it bestowed its vaccine with regulatory approval without sufficient trials, it appears that its initial hunches about the effectiveness of its vaccine were correct.
Putin added that the Russian government has in fact approved two different vaccines, and that a third one is in the process of being approved as well. For its Sputnik V vaccine, which is funded by the Russia Direct Investment Fund, Russia has secured agreements with India and Brazil to conduct local trials. At the same time, Russia has reached agreements with Indian and Chinese pharmaceutical firms to produce the vaccines.
Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has come under fire during the ongoing pandemic for ignoring the advice of health experts, threatening to withdraw from the WHO, seeking to reopen the economy too soon, downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, failing to protect vulnerable Indigenous communities, holding public rallies, spouting wild conspiracy theories. Parallel to this, he has been investigated by the Supreme Court over interference in the police force, called an abrupt end to the country’s biggest-ever corruption investigation, and increased deforestation and relaxed environmental regulations in the Amazon, the last of which has thrown into jeopardy international trade agreements and foreign investment.
Against this backdrop, Bolsonaro has countered that many of the countries who call out his administration for failing to protect the Amazon are benefiting from damage to this fragile and invaluable ecosystem. Thus, at the BRICS summit, he promised that his government would soon publicly name the countries who import wood that has been illegally extracted from the Amazon.
At the same time, he said that Brazil, despite suggestions otherwise, is working to “fight carbon emissions”. Likewise, he thanked Putin for his unwavering support and friendship, even during the ongoing pandemic
Like PM Modi, Bolsonaro also called for a serious reform of international institutions, particularly the WTO, the WHO and the UNSC, but took a notably more aggressive stance to Modi’s more measured approach. In fact, he called on Russia and China, both of whom are permanent members in the UNSC, to push for the inclusion of India, Brazil, and South Africa in the Council.
South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa urged fellow BRICS members to bolster “cooperation and dialogue” by increasing trade and investment between the nations. At the same time, he called on his BRICS counterparts to broker international consensus for a stimulus package for African countries to deal with the economic fallout from the current pandemic, which he said will allow them to “contain the disease and rebuild our damaged economies”. Until now, the New Development Bank has approved $4 billion emergency assistance. Ramaphosa welcomed that the Bank has indicated that it will look to increase this amount to $10 billion. The South African leader, who is also the chairperson of the African Union, has in the past called on the G20, UN, World Bank, and the European Commission to lift sanctions on countries like Zimbabwe and Sudan and debt relief to financially embattled African countries.
Like the other leaders, Ramaphosa, too, invited foreign investment, “particularly in the manufacturing sector”. However, he said that this investment was required not just in South Africa, but all across the African continent in order to “diversify and upgrade our industrial capacity” and “support the wider process of industrialization”. He remarked that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) will enter into force from January 2021, which will incentivize greater international trade.
On the topic of the pandemic, the South African leader said that the country is well-prepared to aid in international efforts to “develop, manufacture, and distribute” vaccines. Likewise, he called on the BRICS members to “accelerate the establishment of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Centre in South Africa, as agreed in the 2018 Johannesburg Declaration”. This, he said, would vastly improve the implementation of an “early warning system for preventing mass infectious diseases”.
FULL RECAP: BRICS Summit 2020
We provide a review of the major statements made by each of the heads of state at the 12th BRICS conference, which was chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
November 19, 2020
IMAGE SOURCE: PMO INDIA / GOVERNMENT OF INDIARussian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Indian PM Narendra Modi’s veiled reference to Pakistan, noting, “(there is) always a black sheep in the family... some people try to impose their own agenda.”