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Kazakhstan’s Strategic Stand: Navigating BRICS Amidst Geopolitical Tensions

In recent days, BRICS - an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE - has become one of the most critical topics on the Eurasian region's information agenda. Russian propaganda has presented the BRICS summit, which is taking place in Kazan, as a global event. However, the press secretary of Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has stated that the republic has no plans to apply for BRICS membership in the foreseeable future, which has caused an adverse reaction in the Russian media, and led to a seemingly retaliatory Russian ban on Kazakhstan's agro-products. The Kazakhstani side, represented by the expert community, has tried to explain that its reasoning is based not only on Astana's national interest, but also on its obligations to its partners in Central Asia. Perhaps the most convincing argument is that the C5+1 mechanism is effective as a format for the region's interactions with the outside world. Therefore, it is not worth breaking this mechanism. No Central Asian country besides Kazakhstan has been invited to join BRICS, but Astana cannot afford to damage the established alliance by creating the conditions for distrust from its neighbors; Central Asia has already gone through a period of distrust. At the same time, rejecting the idea of joining BRICS, where India, Russia, Brazil and China are the founding members, does not unduly affect Kazakhstan's interactions with these powers. Kazakhstan works with China and Russia within the framework of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union), and has signed multiple partnership and alliance agreements with Beijing and Moscow. In other words, the information hysteria that Kazakhstan will exit Russia's sphere tomorrow and join the "Global West" (a term used in the Russian media) has no basis in reality. At the same time, however, it is evident that most Central Asian countries are trying to distance themselves from Russia as much as possible, maintaining cooperation only along certain economic lines. Even banks in Kyrgyzstan, a republic maximally dependent on Moscow on several essential issues, have stopped working with Russian banks. The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, meanwhile, recently announced the end of cooperation with the sanctioned Moscow Stock Exchange. Moreover, Rosselkhoznadzor's ban on imports of a wide range of agro-industrial products from Kazakhstan, if not a response to the refusal to join the BRICS, clearly hints that behind the scenes, economic relations between Astana and Moscow are not all that smooth. Another argument against joining BRICS was voiced not just within Kazakhstan, but also by Russian experts. Despite the organization's purportedly representative nature, which includes countries with a combined population of 3.5 billion people (45% of the Earth's population), the association has no structure. Russian analysts opposed to the Kremlin believe that BRICS is a club where one can come, sabre-rattle at the West, conclude bilateral agreements, and forget about everything until the next summit. No coordinating center monitors the implementation of any agreements reached. BRICS was conceived as an intercontinental organization, uniting similar economies in volume and GDP. Thus, it initially included Brazil, representing...

Kazakhstan Decides to Abstain from Applying for BRICS Membership

Kazakhstan's presidential spokesman, Berik Uali, announced that Kazakhstan plans to refrain from applying for membership in the international association BRICS. According to him, despite Kazakhstan's proposals, the decision to join BRICS remains under consideration. Specialists are analyzing prospects with a focus on the country's national interests. Uali also noted that President Tokayev will participate as a guest in the BRICS Summit, scheduled to take place October 23-24 in Kazan. He will speak at the organization's extended outreach meeting on October 24. At the same time, Kazakhstan will refrain from applying for BRICS membership. This is due to the multi-stage process of accepting new members and other aspects of the association's development. When asked about the priorities of Kazakhstan's diplomacy, Berik Uali noted that Tokayev emphasized the importance of the UN as a universal and irreplaceable international institution. Despite its shortcomings, he emphasized that the UN remains the sole platform for addressing crucial global issues. Tokayev also expressed the view that the UN Security Council should be reformed to consider the interests of the middle powers and to hold broad consultations among the organization's members. Established in June 2006, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia) aims to promote a multipolar world order. Azerbaijan and Belarus have already applied to join.

China Supports Kazakhstan’s Bid to Join BRICS

Beijing has officially supported Kazakhstan's application to join BRICS, a group of emerging economies founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009, which South Africa joined a year later. In January of this year, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE were also admitted as full members. The Anadolu Agency reports that Kazakhstan's bid to join became known after a meeting between Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Xi Jinping last week. According to the Chinese leader, “China and Kazakhstan are walking side by side on the road to modernization.” Xi Jinping noted a great synergy between the two countries and said he supports the application. During the meeting, the president of Kazakhstan also supported China's initiative to "create a community [for the] common destiny of mankind," expressing his country's readiness to "constructively support" issues related to its realization.

Russia’s Chelyabinsk to host BRICS and SCO summits in 2020

BISHKEK (TCA) — The Russian city of Chelyabinsk has been chosen as the venue for the meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states and the meeting of BRICS leaders in 2020 in accordance with a Decree ‘On the Organizing Committee for Preparing and Securing the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2019–2020 and in the BRICS Union in 2020’ signed by President Vladimir Putin. Continue reading

Afghanistan and Pakistani support of militants addressed at China summit of BRICS

BISHKEK (TCA) — At a summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen on September 4, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which comprise the BRICS grouping of the world's leading emerging economies, issued a statement that for the first time named Pakistan-based militant groups “regional security concern”. We are republishing the following article by James M. Dorsey* on the issue, originally entitled ‘BRICS potentially strengthens Trump’s hand in tackling Pakistani support of militants’: Continue reading

BRICS member countries name Pakistan-based groups as security concern

BISHKEK (TCA) — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which comprise the BRICS grouping of the world's leading emerging economies, at a summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen on September 4 called for an immediate end to violence in Afghanistan and issued a statement that includes for the first time Pakistan-based militant groups as a regional security concern, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reports. Continue reading