00:00Can BRICS become an rival or an alternative to the Western blocs that we see?
00:08Yes, I mean, its main idea is to provide an alternative to the Western order.
00:16And this current lack of joint statement raises several questions,
00:24whether there is unity amongst the bloc, or it also comes at a point of heightened tensions between countries
00:33where they have different geopolitical interests and they want to maintain strategic alliances
00:39without actually getting confrontational.
00:42However, one positive would be for this particular bloc is that it is still able to bring this competing interest
00:49together.
00:50It is able to bring India and China together.
00:52Whether it is able to bring Russia, it is able to bring Iran at the same table.
00:58So it goes to show that it does have the potential, but it just raises several questions
01:04that if there is a major crisis and we are not able to get a major joint statement,
01:12that goes to show that the divisions may be significant.
01:16And if not, going forward, that is the case indeed for these countries to actually come together
01:24and provide an alternative, given that their agenda has been sort of de-dollarization.
01:29We've also seen that they want the countries to come together.
01:34A little bit of history for BRICS.
01:35It was first convened in 2006, and then in Russia, the first meeting was held in 2009.
01:42And then in 2011, the South Africa joined, then BRIC became BRICS.
01:47So it goes to show that, and last year, we have added 10 partner countries to this bloc.
01:55So it does have significant influence among the global South.
02:00But this is a significant point, as we raised, that if there is no joint statement coming from
02:07this major bloc, it raises several questions for the unity among the countries.
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