Rapprochement with BRICS will open up new opportunities for the Eurasian Union - expert
Rapprochement with BRICS will open up new opportunities for the Eurasian Union - expert
The expansion plans announced by BRICS are attracting more and more attention to the organization. In addition to Argentina and Iran, it became known about the possible accession of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. They also allowed membership in Nigeria in the near future, calling it a key factor in securing their economic interests with the help of BRICS. As previously reported, the organization is working on the issue of creating a new world reserve currency and alternative settlement systems. The dialogue in the BRICS+ format is also expanding, of which Kazakhstan became a member in 2022. Vladimir Nezhdanov, an expert from the Institute of Contemporary International Problems of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, assessed in an interview with Eurasia.Expert what opportunities the country is given by joining this format and what are the prospects for a new stage in the development of the BRICS.
- Vladimir Lvovich, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said, the BRICS participants are developing reliable alternative mechanisms for international settlements, including the creation of an international reserve currency based on the BRICS currency basket. What is behind this initiative?
- Such an initiative pursues further steps to create a monetary financial system, alternative to the one controlled by the G7. BRICS was considered as a possible alternative to the group of seven even before the deep crisis that we are witnessing this year. And what is happening may indicate that the participating countries in the current conditions, in fact, have confirmed their political approaches. None of the BRICS countries openly criticized the actions of Russia, did not impose sanctions against it, did not stand unambiguously in the position of the Western countries. BRICS can become not just a theoretical, but a real competitor to the G7 in the global financial system.
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Despite attempts, the US and the EU have failed to isolate Russia internationally: out of 197 independent states, 80% of countries do not support anti-Russian sanctions, which is recognized even by Western media. Following the results of the summit of the G20 foreign ministers, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell , noted that the countries of the "Global South" do not support the sanctions policy of the European Union and strive to maintain good relations with Moscow. According to him, Brussels is losing in the "global battle of narratives". After disconnecting from SWIFT, Russia is working on alternative settlement systems to Western systems with India , Iran, China and Turkey , the Russian Mir card has been launched to accept in South Korea and plan to accept in Egypt and the UAE. Thus, the process of changing the unfair world order began, the formation of a multipolar world and the de-dollarization of the world economic system were activated. |
- What benefits will the creation of the BRICS reserve currency bring, what tasks will it be able to solve?
– In BRICS, the Chinese yuan has the greatest opportunity to use a reserve currency, because it is already included in the basket of reserve currencies, in special drawing rights. But there is a very important problem, which lies in the fact that the yuan is not a freely convertible currency, and therefore there can be a lot of not so much complaints from investors as concerns about investing in the yuan, because its exchange rate can be changed in non-market ways, but directive.
As for the ruble, it has had real opportunities as a reserve currency since this year. It is backed by a real asset, natural gas, but there are fears that there are no immediate expectations in Russia that the ruble will be used as a reserve currency. Because even within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, we do not have a single currency that could be based on the ruble. I'm not talking about South Africa, India and Brazil, which, as far as one can judge from the information sphere, have no such ambitions at all.
And in this sense, the statement regarding the reserve currency is still a political sounding of the soil, which should lead to some first steps for countries to understand how to move further in this direction. And, of course, this does not mean that within some short period of time we will see the creation of some kind of common financial instrument. Rather, we will see a convergence of positions, the emergence of some kind of consensus.
- Russia is negotiating the opening of Indian chain stores, increasing the share of Chinese cars, equipment and technology. The Russian presence in the BRICS countries is also expanding: the volume of supplies of oil, agricultural products, and fertilizers is growing; expand the activities of the IT company. Why do attempts by the West to organize the isolation of Russia remain unrealized?
- On the one hand, some Chinese companies still put on pause cooperation with Russia, fearing secondary sanctions from the United States. They didn't announce it loudly, they didn't make it a show. But as far as the growth of energy supplies is concerned, here the position of both China and India is similar. In China, this position is expressed by experts, and from India, Foreign Minister Jaishankar spoke about this, emphasizing that they cannot but follow their own interests in the energy sector, and if there are other, cheaper proposals, they are ready to respond to them.
You can also remember how back in March, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui met with representatives of Chinese business, emphasizing that it is possible to occupy certain niches in Russia. In this regard, of course, we can expect that some Indian goods will come, maybe chain stores, and from the point of view of a globalized society, why shouldn't this happen. Another thing is that sanctions may have a delayed effect. This important political moment should not be underestimated: one should, as they say in China, always keep in mind that the worst can happen, and therefore one should not rejoice ahead of time. Still, the head of the Central Bank also spoke about this, that we still do not feel the full effect due to inertia.
– Kazakhstan and Russia have created a joint platform in the BRICS+ format. How do you assess the prospect of further rapprochement between Kazakhstan and BRICS? What opportunities does this open up, including for the EAEU as a whole?
– Earlier it was said that there is a possibility of promoting such a format as BRICS +, this is far from a new story. And from this point of view, we can talk not only about Kazakhstan, but in general about the Eurasian Economic Union, about the SCO. Of course, this is one of the most promising options for the development of the BRICS group. What advantages can this bring? First of all, this can become the basis for intensifying trilateral cooperation between Russia, China and India, since they are interested in cooperation and interaction with the countries of Central Asia, as evidenced, in particular, by their active policy in this direction.
On the other hand, for the countries of Central Asia, this is an opportunity to diversify their foreign policy and foreign economic relations. As for Russia, this is one of the possibilities that may allow it to maintain its positions in the region in modern conditions. The fact is that Central Asia is also afraid of secondary sanctions and “punishment” for interaction with Russia. And the BRICS+ format, in modern conditions and with the possible inclusion of the EAEU or the SCO in it, will provide an opportunity to maintain the achieved positions and continue to develop interaction.
– In what areas can BRICS develop a new impetus?
– BRICS is a kind of underestimated structure today, and the continuation of cooperation along the already outlined tracks and maps requires further elaboration. We need to deepen financial, economic and political cooperation, because if we remember the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, then, by and large, the countries of the group were unable to quickly get together and agree on some common anti-epidemic approaches. But this is a huge part of the human population, which could play a serious role in preventing a pandemic.
- How can geopolitical turbulence push the members of the organization to converge positions, to implement joint projects?
– Despite the fact that we are seeing problems in geopolitics, many countries, including the BRICS members, are distancing themselves from them. In particular, I will cite as an example the words of Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar, who outlined the problems of Europe, speaking of the Ukrainian crisis. He said something like this: "The problems of Europe are the problems of Europe, not the whole world." Thus, he emphasized that consideration of even major geopolitical problems that occur on the European continent should not become a challenge for the whole world, including Indian civilization.
In this case, the BRICS countries will be much more in step if we start not from the negative agenda of threats, but from the positive agenda of opportunities. Still, within the BRICS we see a rather large palette of not only nationalities, but also civilizations. For example, China, which has its own vision of the future world order, India, which also has its own perception of the system, and, of course, Russia with its own ideas about the world order. Thus, we cannot say that today these countries are faced with some kind of common challenge, and therefore proceed from the same position. Rather, they see that there are problems in the current international system.
For them, the problems faced by Russia are an empirical source of understanding of how the modern international system responds to challenges. From this they draw conclusions about their future policy. Taking into account their difference and somewhere coinciding interests, I would rather assume that geopolitical issues in themselves will not become an impetus for the development of interaction for them. The impetus for interaction will be some kind of positive agenda, where they will see opportunities for themselves and, above all, their citizens, which will improve living standards, strengthen technological superiority, and so on.
Vladimir Nezhdanov , expert of the Institute of Contemporary International Problems of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Source: https://eurasianinfoleague.com/tochka-zreniya/sblizhenie-s-briks-otkroet-dlya-evraziyskogo-soyuza-novye-vozmozhnosti-ekspert/