(MENAFN- Asia Times) Since 2011, observers have regarded Indonesia as a hot accession candidate should BRICS, a forum of emerging powers with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as members, decide to enlarge their club.
When during the latest BRICS summit held in South Africa in August 2023 China persuaded its hesitant partners to invite new members to the forum, Indonesia was on the cards of all five BRICS member governments.
The country's potential value for BRICS is obvious. It is the country with the world's fourth largest population, a fast-growing economy with the potential to become one of the globe's top five economies by 2045 and a leading power in Southeast Asia, a strategically important region where the United States and China compete for influence.
But surprisingly, Indonesia was not among the six countries – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia – that were selected from among 23 countries that had submitted letters of interest. Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo informed the public that the Indonesian government had
decided not to hand in a letter of interest
because it did not want to rush membership.
According to Jokowi, the government needs more time to study the benefits and drawbacks of BRICS membership, especially in the economic domain, and wants to consult with its ASEAN partners.
This is the official version, but peeling back the surface reveals the deeper motivations behind Indonesia's decision not to join BRICS.
One reason is that Indonesia's foreign policy has a long tradition of non-alignment. Aggressive Chinese attempts to enlarge BRICS cause wariness in Jakarta, invoking Cold War-era bloc building against the dominance of the United States and its Western allies.
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