New Brics in the wall

Amid expansion, India beware Beijing's ambitions

As was widely expected, the summit of the Brics grouping — consisting, for now, of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — ended with some big news: The announcement that the grouping would be expanded. This was promised in the statement following the last leaders’ meeting, but it had been widely reported that India, in particular, was not completely happy with aspects of the planned expansion. The official word, however, is that subject to certain criteria — new countries will be permitted to join the grouping. The first such list of countries consists of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United