The 16th BRICS Summit hosted by Russia took place from Tuesday, October 22 to Thursday, October 24.

 

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are nine countries that are part of BRICS, an increasingly powerful intergovernmental organization founded by  Brazil, Russia, India and China. Together these nine countries make up roughly 45% of the world’s population and contribute about 28% of the world’s GDP. The purpose of this organization is to establish peace and cooperation between nations in this group as well as challenging the Western world’s dominance. 

 

The 16th Brics Summit took place in Kazan, Russia and was the first summit attended by Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates: countries who joined very recently. In addition to the leaders of these nine countries, the leaders of other countries with an interest in BRICS also attended the Summit, such as the Turkish President and Vietnamese prime Minister. 

 

The summit was also attended by Antonio Gutteres, the United Nations’ Secretary-General. His attendance caused upset in Ukraine as he declined their invitation to a peace summit, but accepted Russia’s invitation. The UN argues that the BRICS Summit is extremely important and provides an excellent opportunity to diplomatically discuss issues and advocate for peace. 

 

BRICS nations want to cut back on reliance on the US dollar, and have agreed to increase usage of each nations individual currency in trade. Additionally China now uses an alternative to the SWIFT payment system, which Russia was barred from using after its invasion of Ukraine.

 

The Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met with the intention of attempting to resolve tension between the two countries caused over conflicting opinions on the border. The two leaders have reached an agreement and made plans for future meetings to meet their goals. They hope to be able to resolve the border issue and continue an amicable relationship. 

 

This Summit was especially important for Russia. The country has suffered isolation from much of the Western world, since their invasion of Ukraine. Russia intended to send the message to the world that despite their invasion of Ukraine they still enjoyed the support and friendship of other countries.