AfricaTopSuccess They make Africa
Leaders of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West, Reuters reported.
Heightened global tensions provoked by the Ukraine war and a growing rivalry between China and the United States have added urgency to a drive to strengthen the bloc, which has at times suffered from internal divisions and a lack of coherent vision.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted China’s Xi Jinping, the leading proponent of enlarging BRICS, for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping’s other leaders later in the day.
Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also attending the Aug. 22 to 24 summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not travel to South Africa and instead join virtually.
