WEB DESK: China, Russia and Iran have launched a week-long joint naval drill off the coast of South Africa, an exercise the host nation says is aimed at protecting maritime trade and shipping routes under the framework of “BRICS Plus.”
The manoeuvres reflect the expanding scope of BRICS, a grouping that originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has since widened to bring in six additional countries. The bloc positions itself as an alternative to U.S. and Western economic influence.
South Africa has a history of holding naval exercises with both China and Russia, but the latest drills come amid strained relations between the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and several BRICS Plus members, including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil.
In addition to the original five members, the enlarged BRICS group now includes Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Chinese military officials overseeing the opening ceremony said Brazil, Egypt and Ethiopia were taking part as observers.
According to a statement from South Africa’s military, the exercise — named WILL FOR PEACE 2026 — is designed to improve cooperation among BRICS Plus navies through maritime security operations and interoperability training. Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Mathebula, acting spokesperson for joint operations, said all member states had been invited to participate.
Trump has previously accused BRICS countries of adopting “anti-American” policies and, in January, warned he could impose an additional 10% tariff on all member states, on top of existing global trade duties.
South Africa’s pro-Western Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s governing coalition, criticised the drills, arguing they undermine the country’s declared neutrality and risk turning it into a tool in what it called the power struggles of “rogue states.”
Mathebula dismissed those concerns, stressing the non-political nature of the exercise. She noted that South Africa also conducts naval drills with the United States and said the goal was purely operational — to enhance skills, cooperation and information sharing rather than to signal hostility toward any country.
