Vijay Bhatia: "The BRICS nations have achieved plentiful and substantial results in promoting global governance"

Vijay Bhatia: "The BRICS nations have achieved plentiful and substantial results in promoting global governance"

Dr Vijay Kumar Bhatia is a Faculty of International Relations and Eurasian affairs at Ramlal Anand College, University of Delhi, New Delhi India gave an interview for Eurasia.Expert.

- The very first BRIC summit was opened on June 16, 2009 in Yekaterinburg. Soon it will be 10 years of this organization. Tell me, please, how do you assess the results of the activities of BRICS for 10 years?


After 10 years of development, the BRICS nations have achieved plentiful and substantial results in promoting global governance, pragmatic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, as well as mechanism building. During their 10 years of cooperation, BRICS countries have complied with historical trends, and constantly enhanced the representativeness and right to speak of emerging market economies and developing countries in international affairs. Pragmatic economic and trade cooperation has laid a foundation for BRICS cooperation. With rich experience in economy and trade, finance, science and technology, transportation, energy and mining, BRICS countries formed a set of important guidelines – the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership. After 10 years of development, BRICS’s economic aggregate has increased its portion from 12 percent to 23 percent of the world economy, and their aggregate trade volume has increased from 11 percent to 16 percent of the world total. Its voting share in the World Bank rose to 13.24 percent, its International Monetary Fund (IMF) share climbed to 14.91 percent, and its contribution rate to world economic growth has now exceeded 50 percent. Financial cooperation became a highlight of BRICS cooperation during its first decade. BRICS nations have successfully pushed for reforms to the Bretton Woods system, the World Bank and the IMF. More importantly, the New Development Bank is the first multilateral financing institution established by developing countries, supporting infrastructure construction and sustainable development in both BRICS nations and other emerging market economics and developing countries.

- What are the main achievements of the BRICS countries? What are the main achievements you can celebrate?

- BRICS has made laudable efforts to enhance co-ordination in the global arena and this is well established in various multilateral and pluri-lateral initiatives. BRICS nations have worked together in promoting stability and reliability of the global financial system through the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), through which countries have agreed to provide short-term liquidity support to members through currency swaps to help mitigate any external contingency. The New Development Bank is another notable achievement. BRICS bank is significant because it is a direct challenge to the global order led by the West.The authorized capital for NDB is $100 Billion while initial subscribed capital is $50 billion. Voting power of each member is equal to the number of its subscribed shares in capital stock. The headquarter of NDB is at Shanghai with focus on sustainable infrastructure development and strengthening ties among BRICS nations. BRICS is also discussing a framework for BRICS e-commerce cooperation to promote cross-border e-commerce. Intra-BRICS cooperation is now expanding to encompass new areas. Expanding trade among BRICS nations is remarkable achievement. BRICS each and every achievement is significant, the creation of New Development Bank is historic. After NDB came into existence the BRICS became more powerful and meaningful in dealing with economic issues like global recession, currency fluctuation and investment..

- What benefits did India have from cooperation with the BRICS countries?

- BRICS plays a very significant role for country like India. India attaches high importance to the BRICS forum for promoting global economic growth, peace and stability. Cooperation on the economic front is one of the focus areas of India's policy towards BRICS. India sees BRICS as a platform to build multilateral relations with Latin American, African and Asian countries. India has over the years, developed closed strategic relationship with the other member countries. India has also tried to use BRICS as a forum to resolve the age-old mistrust and complicated relationship with China. The setting up of New Development Bank further benefited India. This forum also act as a platform for addressing crucial issues like agriculture, food, climate change and energy security, terrorism. The BRICS forum also provide opportunity to India to raise the concern of developing countries like trade restrictions, equal representation in world bodies including WTO, United Nation, World Bank etc

- How do India and China interact in the framework of the BRICS? Does BRICS help these countries in resolving disagreements and contradictions?

- BRICS is very useful platform for strengthening cooperation between India and China. Both countries are benefiting from BRICS. India has tried to use BRICS as a forum to engage China as the latter has become the largest market for the fast-industrializing countries of East Asia. China second largest economy of world and India sixth largest economy of world can share many things with each other. India wants to resolve the age-old mistrust and complicated relationship with China. Both India and China are huge economies with huge potential to cooperate and trade with each other. BRICS can act as a catalyst for straitening economic ties between India and China. The forum gives opportunities to leaders of both China and India to sit together and exchange their ideas and views and resolve differences in a holistic manner. The improve relations between India and China will not only effect India and China but it will also strengthen BRICS.

- How do you see the future of BRICS? Should we expect the expansion of the BRICS? What countries, in your opinion, can become a member of BRICS in the future?

- Over the years, the fortunes of the BRICS may have risen or fallen, and each BRICS country faces its own challenges. While some observers have doubted the development momentum of the BRICS countries, many analysts said it will become increasingly clear that closer cooperation among these developing will have a positive impact on global order. IMF data shows that over the past 10 years, BRICS' contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 50 percent. Those involved in BRICS believe as long as the five countries stay united, the organization will remain effective. Thus BRICS can become a new engine for globalization. However it should be noted that BRICS is a very recently formulated organization . The scope of expansion of BRICS is huge. It can encourage countries of emerging and developing world like Argentina and Egypt to strengthen the organization. The expansion of BRICS will not only strengthen the organization but will also help the organization to play more meaningful role in the Global politics.

- In your opinion, what new tasks should the BRICS country set for itself in the face of growing tensions in the world?

- The BRICS role is very crucial in the contemporary global scenario. It can play crucial role in making world order more representative, democratic, multi-polar and more equal. It can act as a multilateral forum to raise the voice of global justice for the emerging economies of the world. The BRICS can raise the voice of emerging economies and influence UN and other institutions such as WTO which is primarily controlled and manipulated by the developed countries and countries with veto power. Through BRICS forum it can raise the issue of expansion of Security Council for just world order. The BRICS must also work for reforms in WTO, World Bank and IMF.
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