TEHRAN - South Africa is hosting leaders from around the world who are attending the 15th BRICS Summit. It is an economic bloc eying significant expansion. 

Ahead of the gathering, which is being held in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed his nation outlining the significance of this year's meeting. 

“An expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order,” he pointed out. 

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in South Africa earlier than other leaders, before the summit began for bilateral talks, something Ramaphosa hailed, along with his bilateral meetings with President Da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Modi of India "and many other heads of state on the sidelines of the summit."

Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with President Vladimir Putin participating online. 

Ahead of the summit, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said New Delhi had a “positive intent and an open mind when it comes to the BRICS expansion”, while noting that a “consensus” on the criteria for taking in new members is needed. 

The summit will aim to widen the influence of BRICS and push for a shift in global order in line with multilateralism. 

The heads of state and government of the member nations meet annually, with each nation taking up a one-year rotating chairmanship of the group.

President Xi is expected to engage in talks with a view to pressing ahead for the expansion of the emerging economic bloc.

In an article published in South African newspapers on Monday, Xi said that “more and more countries are knocking on the door of BRICS, aspiring to join our cooperation”.

Sitting beside the Chinese leader, Ramaphosa said that the two countries had "similar views" regarding expansion.

"We share your view President Xi that BRICS is a vitally important forum which plays an important role in the reform of global governance and in the promotion of multilateralism and cooperation throughout the world," he said.

Upon arrival in South Africa, Xi said, "I am confident that the upcoming summit will be an important milestone in the development of the BRICS mechanism."

Scores of countries have either expressed their interest in joining BRICS or have formally applied for membership, with the support of its members, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. 

The first day saw BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue, followed by a dinner meeting hosted by President Ramaphosa.

It appears that reaching a consensus among the member states on the criteria to allow new members is all that is left on the table for expansion. 

In his speech to the nation, Ramaphosa said South Africa has resisted foreign pressure to align itself with any global powers, saying his country works on a neutral playing field in international politics. 

"It is for this reason that South Africa is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc."
 
But he noted, "Our non-aligned position exists alongside our active support for the struggles of the oppressed and marginalized in different parts of the world."
 
"We have always believed that the freedom we won, and the international solidarity from which we benefited, imposes a duty on us is to support the struggles of those who continue to experience colonialism and racial oppression."
 
"That is why we will continue to support the struggles of the people of Palestine and Western Sahara."
 
He also said, "It is these principles that guide our participation in BRICS." 
 
BRICS members make up more than a quarter of the global economy while accounting for a fifth of global trade. In terms of territorial and demographic size, the current members span almost a third of the world’s land surface while encompassing more than 40 percent of the world's total population.

The attraction toward BRICS is that it plays an important role in the world due to its economic prosperity, market potential, political influence and development cooperation.

Some 50 other leaders – among them Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo – have confirmed they will attend the talks. 

Boosting the use of member states' local currencies in trade transactions is also on the agenda. 

On Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the group of emerging countries is not meant to challenge other international coalitions. 

"We want BRICS to be a multilateral institution, not an exclusive club ... We just want to organize ourselves," Lula said.

The leftist leader repeated his call for a common trading currency, saying the move would facilitate trade between the emerging nations in their own currencies and not particularly aimed at "rejecting" the U.S. dollar. 

According to 2023 "Friends of BRICS" talks in Cape Town in June, among the dozens of countries that have expressed strong interest in becoming new members are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Argentina, Algeria, Bolivia, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia (one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa), Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon and Kazakhstan. 

If the BRICS club does expand, the potential of its trade surplus would witness an unprecedentedly sharp rise in economic growth. 
 
The bloc has also been using its voice to advocate a world that is more equitable, balanced, and governed by an inclusive system of international governance.
 
South Africa itself has benefited from vital energy infrastructure projects from the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS bank, which was established by the member states in 2015.

The NDB is planning to issue its first Indian rupee bond by October, its chief operating officer has said. Members intend to trade more in local currencies.

Last week, the vice president of the bank Vladimir Kazbekov told a press briefing that the NDB had issued its first bond in South Africa and could consider local currency issuance to members. 

Founded in 2015, the NDB is one of the biggest achievements of BRICS, as the members want to turn the bloc into a counterweight to Western-controlled banking systems. 

"We're going to tap (the) Indian market - rupees - maybe by October in India," Kazbekov said.

"Now we start thinking seriously... to use one member country's currency to finance projects with that currency in another member. Let's say, a project in South Africa to be financed in CNY (Chinese yuan), not with USD (U.S. dollar)," he said. 

Reports indicate that the NDB aims to increase local currency lending.  However, BRICS is quite unique in many other ways. 

The West (with the U.S. at its helm) has long been abusing trade practices, resorting to universal sanctions regimes against sovereign nations. It neglects the development needs of poor nations. 

This is while the West has amassed its wealth via the domination of international bodies, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Despite Western attempts to isolate sovereign states through these methods, the facts on the ground show they have been unsuccessful in doing so.