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The virtual summit of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, hosted by China last week, showed both the nuanced approaches of the member countries towards global challenges as well as their shared commitment to strengthen the grouping as the old global order is under pressure. While Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose war in Ukraine has triggered one of the biggest security and economic crises in post-War Europe, slammed the “selfish actions” by the West in the summit, President Xi Jinping of China called on members to reject the “Cold War mentality, a standard Chinese position on the U.S.’s policy towards the country, and opposed “the unilateral sanctions” of the U.S. and the EU. Prime Minister Narendra Modi carefully avoided any criticism of the West in his remarks and instead focused on the importance of BRICS in the post-pandemic global economic recovery. While recalling their national positions, all countries also said they “support talks between Russia and Ukraine and...expressed our support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and ICRC to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.” In this editorial on the BRICS summit, The Hindu writes that BRICS countries have shown they can cooperate where their interests align.
Ahead of the summit, India’s envoy in China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, held talks with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with both sides exchanging views on the boundary situation as well as broader bilateral ties. The Chinese Minister said “common interests between China and India far outweigh the differences” and called on both sides to “work in the same direction to maintain the warming momentum in China-India relations and bring them back to the track of stable and sound development at an early date.”
Earthquake and diplomacy
An Afghan man holds a case containing his belongings as he walks amid the ruins of damaged houses after an earthquake in Gayan district, Paktika province, on June 24, 2022. | Photo Credit: AFP
Afghanistan, which is already in the midst of a huge economic and humanitarian crisis, suffered another jolt last week when an earthquake killed at least 1150 people and wounded scores of others. State media reported that close to 3,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Wednesday’s magnitude 6 quake. India was quick to send aid to the Taliban-ruled country. Besides sending a consignment of relief assistance, India has also dispatched a technical team to reopen its Embassy in Kabul, showing a marked difference in its approach towards the Taliban 2.0 regime from the position it took towards the Taliban in the 1990s. In this article, Davood Moradian, Director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, explains the rationale behind India’s rapprochement. “Afghanistan needs a strong UN mandate, including a UN-led political transition process supported by a UN peace keeping/making force. India can lend its support to such endeavours which are worthy of its character, ambition and Afghanistan’s needs,” he writes.
The fall of Severodonetsk
Smoke rises from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. | Photo Credit: AFP
After weeks of resistance, Ukraine’s troops were forced to retreat from Severodonetsk, the eastern most city they had controlled. Russian troops had destroyed all bridges from Severodonetsk to its sister city Lysychansk, cutting off supplies and reinforcements for the defence forces. Ukraine was losing up to 200 soldiers in the battle for the east, according to their own military leadership. As Ukraine’s options were shrinking, authorities ordered forces to retreat from Severodonetsk and focus on defences elsewhere. After taking Mariupol, Severodonetsk is another major battleground victory for the Russians, who are now advancing towards Lysychanks from both across the river and also from the southwest of the city. Lysychanks is the last enclave that’s still in Ukraine’s hands in the Luhansk province, which, along with Donetsk, make up the Donbas region. Russia has also stepped up attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, and carried out a strike on Kyiv.
The Hindu Interviews
Sri Lanka’s senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan tells Meera Srinivasan in this interview that the unresolved national question has impaired the island nation’s economic progress. The civil war itself may have ended in 2009, but the conflict that led to it remains unresolved, he says. “I don’t see how our economy can improve without our conflict being resolved.”
As Russia’s access to its traditional markets of exports and imports are hugely limited following its Ukraine invasion and the subsequent sanctions, Moscow is looking to develop new trade and investment relations with partners in Asia, including India, China and Southeast Asian countries, says Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska in this interview with Ksenia Kondratieva.
The Top 5
- Yes, the Left is back in Latin America: Jorge Heine, a former Chilean Ambassador to India, writes that the new ‘pink tide’ in Latin America points to a different Left, as Gustavo Petro’s election in Colombia shows.
- From an urban guerrilla to the first leftist President in Bogota: Who is Gustavo Petro, the first leftist President of Colombia? Srinivasan Ramani takes a deep drive into the former urban guerrilla’s politics, ideology, economic programme and challenges.
- How will the Roe rollback impact women?: What are the implications of the U.S. Supreme court overturning a 1973 judgment on the right to abortion? Sudipta Datta explains in The Hindu FAQ.
- Pakistan’s economic muddling and the IMF challenge: The falling rupee, depleting foreign exchange reserves, energy shortage, increasing fuel prices and a complicated external support highlight the contemporary economic crisis Pakistan is in. Will Islamabad find a way out? Suba Chandran writes.
- A marooned Macron: What are the implications of President Macron losing the majority in the National Assembly? Who is his main Opposition? G Sampath writes
