Modi heads for China tomorrow to attend BRICS Summit

New Delhi, Sep 2: With Doklam issue resolved, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is tomorrow heading for China to attend the BRICS Summit, which would give him further opportunity to build on the diplomatic efforts that led to the resolution of the over two-month long border standoff. The Prime Minister will also visit Myanmar after attending the BRICS Summit which is being held in Xiamen in Fujian province of China. China wants the BRICS cooperation to be pushed further with the Summit so that the platform of the five countries could turn into a strong group for South-South cooperation that could question the existing international order. It was this consideration that made XI Jinping dilute his tough posture on the Doklam and back out to pave the way for Prime Minister Modi's participation, say China watchers. Absence of India from the Summit would have dealt a strong blow to the credibility of the grouping. The BRICS nations represent 42 per cent of the world’s population, have a share of 23 per cent of the global GDP and 17 per cent share in the world trade. At the 9th summit, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea and Tajikistan will be present as guest or observer nations. The last BRICS Summit, which was held in Goa, had laid out a roadmap for pushing greater integration and cooperation among the member countries, and one of the most important of which was the creation of a BRICS rating agency. At present, the rating market was dominated by the US agencies like Moody's and Standards&Poor, which the emerging economies do not see as fully impartial when it came to the rating of their economies. India, therefore, also wants that a BRICS rating agency should be set up early. These countries have already set up a New Development Bank. Moreover, the BRICS platform provides India an opportunity to have closer coordination with Russia and China, which it cannot afford to overlook despite all its partnership with the US. UNI