The BRICS leaders will meet in South Africa the following week to discuss how to become a geopolitical power capable of challenging Western hegemony in international affairs.
There are disagreements among the leaders of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa as to whether to expand the bloc to include dozens of “Global South” nations that are queueing up to join. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is unable to attend due to a warrant for his arrest for war crimes alleged in Ukraine.
The BRICS summit, featuring Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, will take place in South Africa from August 22nd to 24th.
Even though they are spread out across the globe and their economies function in very different ways, the BRICS share a common distrust of an international order they believe serves the interests of the United States and its rich-country allies.
South Africa claims that around 40 countries have expressed interest in joining, so expansion is likely to be a major topic of discussion. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and Egypt are among them.
The BRICS countries are eager to present themselves as a viable alternative to the West in terms of development cooperation.
