Is a New Currency Possible for BRICS?

The first meeting of leaders of the ‘BRIC’ alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, and China was held in Russia in 2009.

Then in 2011, it became a five-nation confederation with the addition of South Africa. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates also joined at the recent summit in Russia. Many more countries have expressed their desire to join the block. It cannot be said that it is a formal block. The BRICS conglomerate can be said to be moving towards a goal of coordinating economic and diplomatic efforts to create an alternative to the Western G7, the United Nations Security Council and the World Bank.

At present BRICS countries account for 35 percent of the global economy. This is higher than the 30 percent share of developed countries in recent months. China’s share of world exports was 14.2% in 2023 and India’s share 1.8%. In the same year, China’s exported goods were worth US$ 117 billion to India. But by 2023, India’s exports were only US$ 16.25 billion. India’s exports to Russia in FY 2023-24 were US$ 61.44 billion. India’s imports from the US in 2023 were US$ 40.12 billion. In the same year, India’s exports to the US were worth US$ 75.81 billion. The US is now India’s top trading partner, overtaking China. By this we can understand what kind of partners the US, China and Russia are.

Under the shadow of the aforementioned complicated trade relations amongst BRICS nations and US, the three years of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, Iran’s stance on attaining nuclear weapons, a yearlong Israeli-Hamas war, threatening climate change issues, and Donald Trump’s US presidential election success, the BRICS summit was held in Kazan the city of Russia in October 2024 this year. BRICS leaders and newly joined members successfully participated, to the disappointment of others, especially the US. For, in these circumstances, it has been projected that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have isolated the West, making global headlines.