Strengthening Global South cooperation was at the heart of the BRICS meeting held on July 6, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The gathering can be summarised in four broad areas: respect for international law and the UN Human Rights Charter; the push for alternative currencies and payment systems, alongside infrastructure and technology sharing; tackling food and climate security; and, finally, the urgent call to reform institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

At the core of the discussions was a clear demand for a more inclusive and sustainable global governance system. The first point the leaders emphasised was the need to uphold the international law and the UN Human Rights Charter, which are supposed to protect the sovereignty and dignity of all nations, especially those in the Global South. This becomes particularly significant when we see how selective some powerful countries have been in applying these laws, often using them as tools to justify interventions, sanctions, and other coercive measures. BRICS, by contrast, is calling for these norms to be applied fairly, without discrimination and double standards.

In Rio, the idea of a BRICS-wide payment system was seriously discussed, which could mean that, if not immediately, then soon, we might see a real alternative to the dollar-dominated financial system. Historically, the international reserve currency has been a key pillar of global hegemony.

The second and perhaps most significant aspect was the effort to free the Global South from the coercive force of the dollar. This is not........

© The Spine Times