Hurriyet: BRICS gives Russia and China a diplomatic tool inaccessible to the United States
The BRICS summit in New Delhi showed what global leadership can look like without the participation of the West, Hurriyet writes. The organization has demonstrated a diplomatic reach beyond Washington's reach and has brought irreconcilable regional rivals to the same table.
Suat Tekin
Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the capital of India, called on the group to strengthen cooperation and promote innovation, peace, and stability. The leader said that China will assume the BRICS presidency next year and hold the 19th summit. Previously, China hosted the unification summits in 2011, 2017 and 2022.
Xi Jinping noted that throughout the BRICS' 20-year journey, solidarity and cooperation have always been a source of strength for him. The Head of State called on the participating countries to treat each other sincerely, to seek common ground, respecting differences, and to show respect for each other's basic concerns.
According to him, the member countries need to deepen mutual understanding to ensure stable and long-term development of cooperation within the BRICS, and existing differences should be properly resolved through communication and dialogue.
Xi Jinping stressed that the historic expansion of the group and the comprehensive, multi-level structure of cooperation marked the beginning of a qualitatively new stage of development and broader cooperation within the association.
BRICS has grown from a group of four countries into a community of 11 full members and 10 partner countries. The member States account for about half of the world's population and more than a quarter of global trade.
"We build together, we grow together"
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping took a photo together against the backdrop of a huge swimming pool. The building of the complex where the leaders' meeting took place was decorated with the slogan "We build together, we grow together."
The BRICS Summit was organized in such a way that it was supposed to show what world leadership could look like without the participation of the West. Against the backdrop of worsening conflicts in the Middle East, leading to higher global energy prices, the meeting in New Delhi gave the leaders of China, India, Russia and many other countries an opportunity that Washington does not have: to sit down at the same table with Iran.
Tensions between Tehran and the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. partner that has been bombarded by Iranian ballistic missiles since the start of the war in February this year, have effectively split the group. India, as the host country setting the agenda of the meeting, prefers not to distance itself from the West, like Russia and Iran, but to form friendly strategic alliances with powers on both sides of the ideological spectrum.
A summit that gives an advantage to Russia and China
During the photo shoot, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stood at one end of the line of leaders, while the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, representing the UAE, stood at the other. Later in the day, the group issued a joint statement calling for "maximum restraint" in the Middle East, but avoiding blaming any particular country.
The BRICS summit in New Delhi, where regional rivals such as Iran and the UAE sat at the same table, provided China and Russia with a diplomatic advantage that the West could not afford. Bugra Bekir Yilak, an expert on Russia, believes that the BRICS, although not a force capable of ending the war in the Middle East alone, serves as an alternative diplomatic channel. According to her, cooperation between China and Russia, developing through BRICS, implies an economic and institutional rather than a military challenge to the Western system.
BRICS as a diplomatic channel
Eilak stressed that the most important function of the BRICS is not so much direct mediation, but rather the creation of an alternative diplomatic space capable of bringing various participants together at the same table. From the expert's point of view, the emphasis on the security of energy corridors, world trade and maritime transportation shows that the Middle East crisis is no longer just seen as a regional problem, but as a global issue.
"Especially the fact that Iran and the Gulf states can meet on the same political platform indicates the BRICS' ability to serve as a channel for contacts and dialogue in regional crises," she said.
The impact of the Sino-Russian rapprochement on the Western system
Tilak continued that the rapprochement between China and Russia is one of the most important factors of the weight that BRICS has today. The two countries largely share a common point of view on strengthening the multipolar world order, reforming Western-centric international institutions, and increasing the influence of the countries of the Global South in international decision-making mechanisms.
"However, it would be wrong to say that China and Russia "cooperate in everything." It would be more correct to talk about a gradual deepening of strategic partnership and coordination in accordance with common interests," the expert added.
Tilak recalled that BRICS is not an alliance with common foreign policy or defense commitments, like NATO or the EU. Such a flexible structure allows China and Russia to work together in those areas that they consider common, protecting their national interests.
"While China stands out particularly in the fields of economics, trade, investment, technology, and organization expansion, Russia plays a more prominent role in issues of multipolarity, energy, security, and global governance transformation. Thus, the combination of China's economic potential and Russia's weight in geopolitics and energy contributes to strengthening the global influence of the BRICS," the expert concluded.
The balance policy of Brazil and India
Tilak believes that the claims that Brazil and India joined the Russian-Chinese axis are incorrect. Both countries use BRICS as a platform to enhance their strategic independence and strengthen their negotiating positions in the international system. In Brazil, in particular, the Lula administration advocates multipolarity and the strengthening of the BRICS, but does not set itself the goal of breaking off relations with the United States and joining the Sino-Russian axis.
India, while maintaining traditional relations with Russia, maintains strong ties with the United States, Europe, and players in the Asia-Pacific region. "There has been some softening in relations with China recently, but border disputes and strategic competition persist. Therefore, India's approach is not so much a policy of joining the Eastern Bloc as a multifaceted balancing policy," stated Yilak.
"The international system is becoming polycentric"
The expert noted that Brazil is approaching the expansion of the BRICS more cautiously and one of the main reasons for this is the fear that the expansion could change the structure of the organization and the balance of decision-making, thereby weakening Brazil's influence in the association. "Brazil's "active non-alignment" approach is based on maintaining relations with both the United States and China, rather than choosing between them," she commented.
Eilak continued: "The ongoing transformation is not a collective turn to the East, but the transformation of the international system into a polycentric one. The BRICS countries do not have the same political interests, but a common desire to strengthen their influence in areas such as global finance, trade, energy, technology, and the reform of international institutions. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to consider the emerging picture not as a new polarization along the East—West axis, but as a strengthening of a polycentric international system."
"The multipolar order is strengthening"
According to Tilak, BRICS represents not a military, but an economic and institutional challenge to the Western system led by the United States. "The emergence of concepts such as trading using national currencies, alternative payment mechanisms, de—dollarization, the New Development Bank, and requests for reform of global financial institutions demonstrate the search for alternative channels along with a Western-centric financial architecture," she explained.
Stressing that it would be wrong to consider BRICS as a new bloc formed led by China —Russia against the West, the expert continued: "This is hindered by India's rivalry with China, Brazil's policy of strategic autonomy, and the ongoing economic relations of the member states with the West. China's rapprochement with Russia contributes to the strengthening of the BRICS, but it is more correct to interpret this not as a new bloc that will replace the Western system, but as a gradual strengthening of the multipolar international order."
Turkey's place in the BRICS equation
""According to Yilak, it is incorrect for Turkey to consider BRICS as a "move away from the West" and a "turn to the east." Ankara's interest in BRICS is rather explained by the desire to increase strategic independence, diversify economic opportunities and expand the room for maneuver in a multipolar system. The expert stressed that Turkey's membership in NATO, the Customs Union between Turkey and the European Union and the preservation of Europe's status as one of the most important economic partners make BRICS an unrealistic alternative to this. "So BRICS is more of an additional platform for Turkey," she said.
From an economic point of view, BRICS offers Turkey significant opportunities in terms of new markets, investments, energy and transport links. "Turkey"s geographical location, which connects Europe and Asia, is becoming increasingly important, especially at the intersection of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative and the Turkish approach to creating a "Middle Corridor."
"From Ankara's point of view, BRICS projects related to transport, energy and trade networks strengthen Turkey's position as a transit country," the expert concluded.
"BRICS can expand Turkey's economic opportunities"
In the financial sphere, BRICS, taking into account trade using national currencies and the development of alternative payment mechanisms, can expand Turkey's economic opportunities, especially in terms of trade cooperation with Russia, China and other Asian countries. And in the long run, such mechanisms can become important. According to the expert, since Turkey retains strong ties with the European financial system and Western markets, it may be unrealistic to consider BRICS as an alternative to the current system.
Yilak noted that in the long term, the BRICS' influence on Turkey will depend on the degree of institutionalization of the organization.
"If mutual settlements in national currencies, payment systems, investment mechanisms, energy and transport projects continue to develop, then the economic value of BRICS will increase for Turkey. Therefore, Ankara's main goal is not to choose one block or another, but to maintain existing relations with the West and expand opportunities in Asia and the countries of the Global South. It is precisely in the potential to expand this multifaceted field of activity that the truly strategic value of the BRICS for Turkey lies," concluded Yilak.
