Commentary: Jokowi is right not to join BRICS for now – but the alliance is still important for Indonesia

AVOIDING ANTI-WESTERN SENTIMENT

Historically, BRICS aims to promote cooperation between countries in the so-called Global South and enhance cooperation with other developing countries in economy, trade, politics and social development.

Russia initiated BRICS in 2009 to balance the economic power of developed countries grouped in Group of 7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States).

However, both BRICS and G7 cannot resist expanding their own agenda towards wider global political and security issues, with China and Russia trying to position BRICS as a counterweight to the G7 and other Western-led alignments.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, for example, the blocs have shown obvious opposing stances.

For example, during the BRICS summit, BRICS leaders issued a joint statement expressing their concern about the current war, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Despite the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit, due to an arrest warrant over war crime allegations, South Africa, China and India did not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Brazil has refused to join Western countries in sending arms to Ukraine or imposing sanctions on Moscow.

This is in contrast to the G7 summit in March, which imposed heavier sanctions on Russia.

This could mean BRICS provides room for its members to counter and challenge the US-led Western dominance. But this kind of anti-Western sentiment contradicts the principles of Indonesia’s free and active foreign policy, meaning it does not side with world powers or bind to any military pact.

Indonesia was one of the pioneering countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. So it always upholds the principle of noninterference in the great power rivalries and only wants to focus on achieving world peace and social justice.

Indonesia tried to be a peace broker between Russia and Ukraine during its 2022 G20 presidency. So joining BRICS would only put Indonesia in unnecessarily complicated situations.

Moreover, if Indonesia joins BRICS, the West will probably see it as a signal of alignment towards Russia and China, and this could affect Indonesia’s diplomatic relations with the US and other Western countries.