Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya: BRICS Nations Are ‘Polar Opposites’

According to venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, the collaboration among the BRICS nations to achieve any significant goal is highly unlikely due to the differences that exist among them.

Despite being economically aligned, the stark differences make it challenging to achieve any meaningful collaboration.

The business magnate further adds that the possibility of BRICS developing a currency framework to compete against the US dollar is doubtful.

“And the problem now is that their regional rivalries are only growing. So China and India, which are the two anchor partners of BRICS, are literally in a land war. There’s a border that they fight over with guns. You have a growing anti-Chinese resentment inside of both India and Brazil. In India, they’ve blocked a lot of apps.”

According to the notes, there are plans to block several imports, but India views China as a serious threat and there is a lot of negative sentiment towards China.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that these two opposing sides can work together, even if they are part of the same organization.

The speaker also notes that the BRICS organization lacks a fundamental shared belief in democratic ideals, unlike NATO and the G7.

This is because China, Russia, and Iran have vastly different democratic governance compared to Brazil and India. Their knowledge of Ethiopia and Egypt is limited, but it is known that they are not democratically elected countries like those in NATO and the G7.

BRICS nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. On the other hand, there are more nations that may soon join the group.

It’s been reported that some countries are considering moving away from using the US dollar as their primary currency.

The US Treasury Department recently released data that shows China’s holdings of US treasuries decreased from $938.8 billion in June 2022 to $835.4 billion in June 2023, which means a reduction of about $103.4 billion in one year.

However, it’s worth noting that China remains one of the largest creditors of the United States, with Japan holding the top position with $1.105 trillion in US treasuries.