China has floated the idea of expanding BRICS by inviting other developing countries under a new banner named ‘BRICS plus’.
Addressing his annual press conference on Wednesday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the plan to expand BRICS is aimed at turning the group into the most impactful platform for South-South cooperation.
“China would explore modalities for BRICS-plus, to hold outreach dialogues with other major developing countries,” Wang said.
"We hope to establish extensive partnerships and widen our circle of friends to turn it into the most impactful platform for South-South cooperation,” he added.
Wang further said that China would work with India and the other BRICS nations to share ideas on political and security cooperation as the five National Security Advisers plan to meet in China later this year.
He further added that China would also build consensus for holding a stand-alone meeting of Foreign Ministers of BRICS.
“BRICS plus” plan of China has created anxiety among the strategic experts of India who believe that the idea is aimed at reducing India’s influence in the grouping by inviting countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Mexico.
"India would be the worst affected among BRICS partners. After expansion, the organization would lose its focus and coherence on development issues and become more like a political platform for China," Mohan Malik, professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies at Honolulu in US, told Times of India.
Recalling how China thwarted India's attempts to isolate and condemn Pakistan over cross-border terrorism at 2016 BRICS summit in Goa, Malik said, “The BRICS Plus concept would nip in the bud any future attempts at isolating China and its friends."
China is the rotating president of BRICS this year and it will host the next BRICS summit in September.
