BRICS Summit 2018 to begin at Johannesburg today: What to Expect from the Five-Nation Meet ?

The 10th BRICS Summit is all set to begin at Johannesburg on 25th July. The Summit will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other heads of the BRICS Nations, viz Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.

The summit is being held at a time when the global trade exhibits a war-like scenario. As estimated by the International Monetary Fund, the unilateral trade actions taken by the United States President Donald Trump could cost the world $430 billion by 2020.

BRICS summit this year is expected to witness a lot of actions. It is expected that China will protest the protectionist measures of Donald Trump, as it has suffered the most due to Trump's actions. India. India will protest against the protectionism, without naming the US.

India shall also raise the issue of setting up a BRICS rating agency, for which it had presented a feasibility study in BRICS Summit 2016. India had argued that the S&P, Fitch and Moody's methodology is not free from bias.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for cumulative co-operation from the BRICS nation in connection with issues like cross-border terrorism, joint action on money laundering, terrorist financing, cyberspace, and deradicalization.

Other issues like Cooperation in the areas of counterterrorism, UN reforms, cybersecurity, energy security and global and regional issues might also be discussed at the BRICS Summit.

India and BRICS Grouping

The BRICS Grouping had started a decade ago and survived despite innate contradictions among member Nations. the grouping has survived autocratic governments of China and Russia, border disputes between India and China, and the competition between South Africa and India for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Despite being just next to China in the BRICS grouping, in terms of economy, its per capita income is the lowest among member countries. The country's infant mortality rate is the highest at 37, while its public expenditure on health as a percent of the gross domestic product is the lowest at 1.2%, against China’s 6%.