Seven measure BRICS

India in the current year presides in the G20 and "will represent a voice of the global South". Anglo-Saxon partners in QUAD say that safety of the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR) depends on New Delhi too. But India is included into BRICS, the USA and Japan can't change it, the correspondent of The Moscow Post reports.

Though Japanese say that they are ready to draw India to the western camp, to stop her drift towards Russia and China. It was said on April 21 by the leading business newspaper Nihon Keizai of Japan. India and its capital are determined to look a parabottom, accepting Group 20. Improvement in Delhi before a meeting of the G20 will face problems of slums, Nikkei Asia, English-language branch of the edition adds.

Japan considers that it has advantage in front of the USA and the West as can communicate with India from positions of "Asian democracy", but without looking "from top to down" as it is done by Washington and the European capitals, - professor of Academy of the Japan Self-Defense Forces considers Ito's Torah.

Divide and rule

And though extent of influence of Tokyo on New Delhi seems overestimated, the Japanese plans "to draw, help and teach" underline multipolarity of the world once again. He different and than can help Japan, itself being in dependence? Especially to the state most of which of all appreciates the independence? Especially, repeating the slogans of Anglo-Saxons and advancing their toxic ideology of division of the world on "democracy and an autocracy"?

Strategy to which Japan is inclined is known. It consists in influencing the Indian elite, to draw on the party media and a business community – in the intellectual and political relation, in understanding of interests of regional and national security, economic priorities.

Like, choose the party of "democracies" (and the former mother country), you will be protected, will help to solve poverty problems, but on condition of submission to predominant force with whom Japanese should reckon, to follow instructions of Washington. The main thing from them is to dissuade India to cooperate with Russia and China.

At Abe's administration of Tokyo and New Delhi proclaimed "strategic global partnership". Today there is also such coalition as the "QUAD four" uniting New Delhi with Washington, Tokyo and Canberra. Though India, according to the U.S. President Joe Biden, "reeled", buying the Russian crude oil and fertilizers.

But the West doesn't lose hopes "to amplify" at the expense of the most inhabited country of the world, having weakened positions of China and Russia and also having blocked BRICS road. The Global Times newspaper called it "a narrow way of thinking". As the Chinese journalist noted, "BRICS isn't interesting to become one more "seven" or NATO".

You will go to the right, or you will turn left …

The unifying agenda offered by the Indian presidency in "Group of twenty" under the motto "One Earth. One family. One future", I am capable to regain the trust to multilateral diplomacy, to prevent fragmentation of world economy and to restore industrial growth, it is noted in article of the Russian ambassador in India Denis Alipov.

On the one hand, India is quite often called in the West the partner who divides local "values and interests". On the other hand, New Delhi is a part of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, the Republic of South Africa). Such regional coalitions with participation of India as IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) and also RIK (Russia, India, China), helped formation of a kernel of BRICS which has real prospects of expansion.

The BRICS Summits were preceded by meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs which were held since 2006 on fields of actions of the UN, and meetings of Ministers of Finance and operating the central banks. The fourteenth BRICS Summit - in Beijing showed 2022 that in fifteen years of work it was succeeded to keep stability of institute, to deepen cooperation and to increase appeal of group.

After the first meeting of full "five" in 2011 the western media began to untwist actively a subject of opposition of the East and West. Today the western critics say that the economic power of group leans on China which share in total GDP of BRICS makes about 69%. But the weight of India too quickly grows in world economy. According to the PwC agency, high growth rates of the country having the young population and huge domestic market will remain at least before the middle of the century. According to forecasts, GDP of Japan will be less than a quarter of GDP of India by then.

Participation of India in BRICS multiplies these opportunities, opens new channels of influence on world order for New Delhi. The main difference of "five" is that in it equal relations between member countries. They can independently act, but within the accepted principles of cooperation. India as the indianist Tatyana Shaumyan considers, looks for the peace arrangement model based on multipolarity, the balanced development, preservation of energy resources.

Fear of drift

The West would not need to "drag" someone to its side, but in absolute terms, the "golden billion" loses its advantages and privileges. BRICS today is 30% of the world's land and 40% of the population. According to the second indicator, the group is four times larger than the G7 countries. The total GDP of the "five" exceeded 30% of the world. By purchasing power parity (PPP), the share of BRICS GDP in world GDP is even higher.

In terms of PPP, Chinese GDP is ahead of American GDP. China, moreover, is the world's largest exporter. India is in third place in terms of PPP GDP, Russia is in sixth, Brazil is in eighth, and South Africa closes the third dozen. The BRICS countries have lower inflation and better GDP growth than those of the United States and Europe. The trade turnover of the five states in 2022 exceeded $8.5 trillion.

Bloomberg, using IMF data, reported that already in 2023 the BRICS will provide 32.1% of the world economy, while the Group of Seven will provide 29%. In 2023, the BRICS countries will account for 31.5% of world GDP, and the G7 - only 30.7%, according to Acorn Macro Consulting. If bank interest and virtual products are taken out of brackets, the share of BRICS (31.2%) is higher than that of the G7 countries (25.6%). In any case, BRICS is already comparable to the G7 and this is just the beginning!

In 2022, the members of the Five provided half of the world's economic growth, but their representation in international financial institutions remains at the same level or is declining. In particular, the proportions of quotas in the IMF do not reflect the economic weight of the BRICS. China, in particular, accounts for 18% of global GDP, but Beijing has only 6.4% of IMF quotas.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Russia's trade with the BRICS countries in 2022 grew by 40% and reached a record $165 billion. According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, Russia's trade with the BRICS countries increased by 38%.

According to Indian foreign trade statistics, Russian exports to India in April-December 2022 grew almost fivefold, to $32.8 billion. Mainly due to the supply of energy resources. Russia accounted for about 17% of Indian crude oil imports and 9% of coal imports. Russia in 2022 became the fourth largest source of India's imports.

Prospects of the New Development Bank...

India believes that one of the main problems requiring the development of a common approach is the problem of energy security. BRICS opens up all possibilities for this, given that Russia is the largest producer of energy resources, and China and India are the largest consumers. Brazil has prospects of entering the top ten oil producers, it also actively promotes alternative energy.

Food security issues stand out separately. The potential of Russia and Brazil in this area is also significant. All this creates the basis for mutual interest in the transition in settlements to national currencies. The issue of "collective currency" is also being studied.

Dilma Rousseff also spoke about this, speaking in mid-April in Shanghai as president of the New Development Bank (NBR) - BRICS Bank. NDB is the leading project uniting all the countries of the "five." The NBR placed three-year green bonds worth $1.25 billion in April. The issue was carried out under the program of medium-term Eurobonds in the amount of $50 billion, which was registered by the bank in 2019. Proceeds from bonds will be used to finance or refinance "green" projects.

Over the years, the bank has approved almost 100 proposals for $32.8 billion related to transport, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, urban planning.

… and "collective currency"

In June last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the BRICS countries are working on the issue of creating an international reserve currency based on national currencies. He was supported by Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

The Russian side will promote the idea of ​ ​ a "collective currency," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. "It is clear that this process in any case cannot be quick, but the fact that the overwhelming majority of countries understand the need to start it and do it as soon as possible and specifically, this is also a fact," the head of the Russian diplomatic service explained.

A South African official confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to personally take part in the upcoming XV BRICS Summit, which will be held in South Africa at the end of summer. As Anil Suklal, who holds the position of Sherpa from South Africa in BRICS, said in an exclusive interview with WION TV channel, the leaders of all participating countries will come to the summit.

China and Brazil supported the expansion of BRICS, noted in the declaration following the negotiations of their leaders. According to the authors of the article in the journal International Life, Argentina, Algeria, Egypt and Iran, as well as Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, intend to join the group.