'Stronger, United': India Makes 'Multipolar World' Pitch With First Photo Of Expanded BRICS

India on Wednesday made its pitch for a “multipolar world” with the first photo of an expanded BRICS, as Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a new “order” to counter western dominance.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted the photo on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, calling it a “historic moment” as the leaders posed for the photograph at the summit hosted by Putin in Russia’s Kazan.

“Stronger and united together for an inclusive and a multipolar world. A historic moment for the BRICS as the leaders take the first photo of the expanded BRICS family at the XVI BRICS Summit,” he said on X.

BRICS, originally Brazil, Russia, India and China, has expanded in recent years to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join the group, but has not yet taken up membership. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, and several others have expressed interest in joining.

In the ‘family photo’ posted by Jaiswal, nine leaders of the member nations could be seen — (from left) Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.

What are the experts saying?

Observers see the BRICS summit as part of Russia’s efforts to showcase support from the Global South amid spiralling tensions with the West while expanding economic and financial ties. Putin, who will hold about 20 bilateral meetings on the sidelines, conferred with Xi, Modi and Ramaphosa on Tuesday (October 22) ahead of the summit’s opening. He has touted it as “the largest foreign policy event ever held”.

Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to western-led international organisations like the G7 – a position supported by key ally Chinese President Xi Jinping. The three-day summit was attended by 36 countries, highlighting the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Russia has specifically pushed for the creation of a new payment system that will offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network SWIFT and allow Moscow to dodge western sanctions and trade with partners.

BRICS – an idea thought up inside Goldman Sachs two decades ago to describe the growing economic clout of China and other major emerging markets – is now a group that accounts for 45 percent of the world’s population and 35 percent of the global economy. But, there are divisions and concerns even among members about how such a vast grouping can expand so swiftly while preserving some sense of geopolitical purpose and achieve any real economic results.

“It would be wrong to ignore the unprecedented interest of the countries of the Global South and East in strengthening contacts with BRICS,” Putin told BRICS leaders. “At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a balance and prevent a decrease in the effectiveness of the BRICS.”

Putin’s foreign policy aide said further expansion of the group will have to take into account certain criteria and that a list of 13 countries for possible expansion had been agreed on. “We will need to talk to them about their degree of readiness to join either full-fledged membership in BRICS, or in some appropriate form,” Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by TASS.

(With agency inputs)