India is trying to "divide the BRICS" and win over South Africa and Brazil to "balance China." Why would they do that? Is it possible that India's conspiracy will succeed?
India and our relations have always been "love and kill each other", the two countries have relatively close economic and trade cooperation, and the two sides are geographical neighbors, but India is constantly targeting China politically. Until now, India has tried to engage in territorial expansion on the Sino-Indian border, and even India wants to play games with China in various international organizations.
Recently, the Indian media proposed that they need to prevent China from "hegemony" within the BRICS countries, so India unites Brazil and South Africa to let these two countries act according to India's ideas to "balance China". This is quite strange, they accuse China of "controlling the BRICS" while trying to win over South Africa and Brazil to keep pace with India, so why are they doing this?
In fact, India still wants to set up small groups within the BRICS, and they want to further strengthen India's international influence by dividing spheres of influence, so that India can become the "actual controller" of the BRICS organization to balance China. But from any point of view, India's plan will be very difficult to succeed. Whether from a political or economic point of view, although South Africa and Brazil are facing a choice, they will most likely not choose India, let's analyze it together.
First of all, from a political point of view, China has always respected any country. Therefore, when we establish cooperation with other countries, we often do not put forward political conditions that are unacceptable to them. But India, which often compels certain countries to accede to their unequal demands by strengthening economic cooperation or investing in other countries. For example, in 1950, India signed the so-called Indonesian Treaty of Amity with Nepal, through which India forced Nepal to cede part of its territory to itself, and India was granted the privilege of training Nepal troops. If South Africa and Brazil want to cooperate with India, they must also think about Nepal's past experience and consider whether India will calculate.
And then from an economic point of view, the economic benefits of cooperation between South Africa and Brazil and China are obviously much greater than with India. After all, China has always been a very important trading partner for South Africa and Brazil.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, bilateral relations have developed rapidly. As early as 1993, the two countries established a strategic partnership. In 2012, the relationship between the two sides was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which established a very solid foundation for in-depth cooperation between China and Pakistan.
According to media reports, in 2022, the total bilateral trade between China and Pakistan reached 171.49 billion US dollars. The total bilateral trade between China and Brazil has exceeded US$100 billion for five consecutive years, and China has been Brazil's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. Under the condition that both China and Pakistan are willing to deepen cooperation, there is still great potential for the development of trade between the two countries in the future.
After talking about Brazil, let's talk about South Africa. Also according to relevant media reports, China has always attached great importance to cooperation with South Africa. In the past 10 years, high-level Chinese officials have visited South Africa more than once, which has laid a very solid foundation for China-South Africa cooperation.
In 2022, China-South Africa trade reached US$56.7 billion, and China has also become South Africa's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. Under such circumstances, Chinese companies are also willing to further expand their investment in the South African market. It was also with the help of China that South Africa became the first African country to use a commercial 5G network. So no matter how you look at it, the cooperation between Brazil and South Africa and China is of great significance to their economic development.
In addition, India has not yet completed industrialization. Until now, India has been counting on other countries to help them make India, so India's capital power is limited, and the economic impetus they can bring to Brazil and South Africa is also very limited. So South Africa and Brazil, if they have to choose between China and India, what reason should they choose India?
In short, India needs to understand that if the BRICS countries are really divided, it will not do India any good. At present, the BRICS countries cooperate with each other under the BRICS system, and it is in the best interests of all parties to exchange information. If the BRICS really engages in small internal political groups, will everyone be able to sit down calmly and talk about cooperation? India itself should know this better than anyone.