The Global South as represented by mechanisms such as BRICS should be taken seriously, especially by the West, said an expert on Thursday.
During the just concluded 16th BRICS summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other BRICS countries together drew a blueprint for the development of the mechanism and opened up a new chapter for the solidarity and development of the Global South.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Waheguru Sidhu, clinical professor of the Center for Global Affairs at the New York University, talked about the distinctive rise of the Global South.
"If you look at the expanded BRICS, it actually now includes many countries which are notionally allies of the West and that, again, is a very important message to say that the West may be losing its allies because of its actions. And if it doesn't take the Global South as represented by the BRICS seriously, it is going to have less and less of the ability to manage, or make rules or shape the rules, of the world," said Sidhu.
The first-ever summit of an expanded BRICS took place from Tuesday to Thursday in Kazan, the capital city of western Russia's Republic of Tatarstan.
BRICS began with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has now evolved into an influential international cooperation mechanism with an expanded membership.
Besides the countries that officially joined the BRICS family on Jan 1, 2024, over 30 countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey and Azerbaijan have either formally applied for or expressed interest in the membership.
Global South as represented by BRICS should be taken seriously: expert
