The BRICS countries held their main summit in the Russian city of Kazan, on the banks of the “Volga River” on Thursday, October 24, 2024, in the Russian city of Kazan. It will be the first summit to be held after (Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates) officially joined the bloc. This year’s agenda includes an emphasis on “establishing a multipolar world order to challenge US and Western hegemony”. The current BRICS summit will seek to find viable alternatives to the global dominance of the US dollar, to help particularly affected members, such as: (Iran and Russia).
At the “BRICS” summit, which has more economic weight than geopolitical influence, Presidents (El-Sisi, Xi Jinping and Putin) want to reform the way the world is run, which means reviewing how the United Nations works, and the quotas and leadership in multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others.
Egypt shares with China and Russia, before the “BRICS” summit, the idea of “deeply re-emphasizing sovereignty as the organizing principle of international relations”, from the Egyptian, Chinese and Russian perspective, Western interference, especially by the United States, in areas such as human rights, the rule of law, domestic politics and diplomacy, is infuriating because it is unwelcome. As well as an understandable desire to escape the dominance of the US dollar over financial and economic transactions around the world.
Here came the importance of the speech of Egyptian President “ Fattah El-Sisi”, at the second session of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan, indicating that the speech carries Egypt’s vision in dealing with current challenges, as President “El-Sisi” said: “Egypt firmly believes in the importance of strengthening the multilateral international system with the United Nations and its agencies at its heart”. We find that El-Sisi’s speech confirmed Egypt’s commitment to the principles and axes of work of the BRICS group, as President “El-Sisi” stressed Egypt’s keenness to enhance cooperation between the BRICS countries, which contributes to maximizing its role in establishing security and stability, increasing global economic growth, achieving the goals of sustainable development and global modernization of the countries of the Global South led by the “BRICS” countries, noting that the “BRICS” group is a business opportunity to enhance partnerships with the “BRICS” countries, which leads to attracting investments to Egypt, especially since Egypt has established a large infrastructure over the past 10 years.
President El-Sisi’s speech also expressed the challenges facing developing countries, especially the escalation of the problem of accumulated debts, and ways to achieve the goals of sustainable development, as President “El-Sisi” called for the international community to play its role in this issue, as he said: Egypt gives top priority to taking tangible steps that ensure the international community plays its role in providing soft financing to achieve development in developing countries, through the creation of innovative and effective mechanisms for financing development, and comprehensive mechanisms to ensure the sustainable management of developing countries’ debts. With President El-Sisi’s full confirmation that Egypt’s joining the BRICS group will have many gains for the Egyptian economy and enhance Egypt’s economic position in the global market.
President “El-Sisi” participated in the activities of the second day of the “BRICS” summit, and stressed in his speech the need to end the conflict in the Middle East, which resulted from the Israeli war in Gaza and its expansion to include Lebanon, in addition to the need to secure maritime navigation and supply chains. President “El-Sisi” called on financing banks to assume their responsibility in supporting member states, especially developing ones, in order to achieve growth and confront climate and infrastructure crises. President “El-Sisi” stressed Egypt’s continuous and permanent work to cooperate with member states in the “BRICS” group to achieve the hopes and aspirations of the people.
President “El-Sisi” , before the “BRICS” leaders, was keen to emphasize the need to maximize the benefit from multilateral development banks, to be more capable of enhancing developing countries’ access to concessional financing, including access to climate finance, and to emphasize the important role of both the (New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) in providing the necessary and concessional financing to developing countries, to implement development projects in various sectors, in order to achieve the desired goal of modernizing the countries of the Global South.
Russian President “Vladimir Putin” commented on President El-Sisi’s speech on the second day of the BRICS group, saying: “Egypt is actively working in BRICS and has become a full member of this group”. He added during the opening session of the second day of the “BRICS” summit in the Russian city of Kazan, today, Thursday, that Egypt will greatly help in supporting the goals of the “BRICS” alliance.
A number of world leaders called at the “BRICS” summit in the Russian city of Kazan, to stop the fighting in the Middle East, after the war spread from Gaza to Lebanon, while Palestinian Authority President “Mahmoud Abbas” accused Israel of “planning to empty” the Gaza Strip of its population. In his speech at the BRICS summit, President Abbas called for implementing the UN Security Council resolution to “immediately stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, allow humanitarian aid, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and have the State of Palestine assume its full duties to return the displaced to their areas and rebuild”.
With Presidents “El-Sisi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin” warning that the Middle East is “on the brink of a comprehensive war”, due to the extension of the fighting in the Middle East to Lebanon, and the impact on other countries in the region as well. With the confrontation between Israel and Iran rising significantly. All of this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a “comprehensive war” .
Here came the confirmation of the Egyptian President “El-Sisi” before about 20 leaders and chiefs, that “it is necessary to stop the violence and provide vital assistance to the victims”, calling for “the establishment of an independent Palestinian state”.
Chinese President “Xi Jinping”, in his speech at the “BRICS” summit in Kazan, Russia, on Thursday, October 24, 2024, considered that world peace still faces “profound challenges”, stressing to the attending leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, that “the joint march of the countries of the Global South towards modernization is a major event in world history”, adding: “At the same time, world peace and development still face profound challenges.” Chinese President “Xi Jinping” spoke on the final day of the BRICS summit in Kazan, as the major diplomatic gathering that Moscow wants to present as a united front against the West’s dominance in managing world affairs. With Chinese President Xi Jinping stressing that: “we must be a stabilizing force for peace, strengthen global governance in the field of security, and explore solutions to the most prominent problems that address their symptoms and root causes at the same time”. The Chinese president also called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and to prevent the expansion of the open confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Stressing out: “We must continue to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, revive the two-state solution, and stop the spread of the war in Lebanon”. Xi added that: “there must be no more suffering and destruction in Palestine and Lebanon”.
Chinese President “Xi Jinping” also confirmed to the current “BRICS” gathering that his country, the world’s second-largest economy, supports the accession of more countries of the Global South to the “BRICS” group. Xi called on the group, during the “BRICS” summit, to be a pioneer in reforming the global economic governance system. With President “Xi Jinping” calling for the activation of the (Global Investment Initiative) with the aim of building a better and prosperous world for people, China is ready as a coordinating party to establish an alliance of “logistics centers” for countries of the Global South, in order to modernize countries of the Global South.
Chinese President “Xi Jinping” also confirmed that he himself had supervised, after the end of the (third session of the Chinese Communist Party), the development of a comprehensive plan to support reforms and modernize Chinese industry, and this will give a greater opportunity to the whole world, with the Chinese-African agreement, on the sidelines of the (China-Africa Forum), on a joint plan between the two sides to promote modernization, which will constitute an additional impetus for modernizing communications in the global South.
With Chinese President “Xi Jinping” confirming that the Chinese side will take care of the countries of the South, stand side by side with them, and work to have more countries from the global South join the BRICS group as partners or to cooperate in the “BRICS Plus group”, and crystallize a decisive force for the global South and have one voice.
Hence, we understand the language of the joint speech between Presidents “El-Sisi and Xi Jinping” during the “BRICS” Summit in Kazan, Russia, from their agreement on the conflicts currently witnessed in the world that threaten the credibility of the multilateral international system, and are dominated by protectionist tendencies and unilateral policies. In this context, and in the midst of this dispersion, Egypt and China believe in the necessity of developing countries uniting and enhancing (South-South) cooperation as one of the important ways to confront current challenges. Egypt, during President El-Sisi’s era, has always been at the forefront of countries keen to enhance cooperation between developing countries, in addition to its tireless efforts to support the interests and priorities of the countries of the South in various international forums. While affirming Egypt’s full commitment to the “BRICS” countries, led by Russia and China, to enhance joint work and cooperation between the “BRICS” countries and the countries of the South, in order to achieve the common goals and the aspirations of our peoples for a better future.