This refers to Mihir S Sharma's article "BRICS Bank: Worthless at best, a disaster at worst" (mybs.in/49968, July 16). The proposed bank will provide new opportunities for investors in the member countries of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). There are three attractive pillars supporting the BRICS Bank. First, Shanghai as a location is wonderful since it shows what a nation can do by following a strategy of integrated coastal development - which is important for India.
Second, BRICS represents a union of contrasting economies. At one end are high-resource, low-population nations (Russia and Brazil), then the high population density nations (China and India), and finally a socially progressive country with the mission of Ubuntu ("I am because you are") of Nelson Mandela's South Africa.
Third, BRICS will be a co-operative bank with equal voting rights for the countries with different political systems. It will demonstrate that it is possible to have allies with different political ideologies.
Chandrashekhar G Ranade Washington DC
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