Why in the News
The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi adopted the New Delhi Declaration unanimously, reconciling the views of the 11 member grouping under India’s chairmanship. Shifting coalitions, unmet founding demands and China’s growing weight leave open what membership adds to India’s strength.
What did the New Delhi Declaration commit BRICS to?
- Summit declaration: A declaration is like a joint to do list all members sign. This one spanned governance, trade, finance, energy, climate, technology, health and agriculture, and backed humanitarian access in Gaza and de-escalation in West Asia.
- Trade and payments: Members will work towards local currency trade and payment systems that link across borders. They backed the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy 2030.
- Value chains and AI: It adopted a Global Value Chain Action Plan for 2026 to 2030, for cross border production. It backed cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance and wider access to computing resources.
- Global institutions: It sought a more representative United Nations (UN), reformed Bretton Woods institutions (the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank) and a two tier World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute system.
- The takeaway: Agreement this broad marks a move from diplomatic spectacle towards substance.
How did India use its chairmanship?
- Ten reform proposals: The Prime Minister urged leaders to draw up 10 global governance reform proposals, arguing that “if the future is shared, the right to shape it must be assured”.
- Strategic autonomy: The Declaration fits India’s strategic autonomy and multi alignment, meaning working ties with rival camps without joining any alliance.
- Summit optics: The Chinese and Russian Presidents attended, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran took part without mutual recriminations.
Why does a sober assessment doubt BRICS’s relevance?
- Variable geometry: In this age of ‘variable geometry’, ad hoc coalitions on shared interests replace deep alliances. Multilateralism (near universal rules) is giving way to plurilateralism (deals among small willing groups), BRICS included.
- Coalition of the willing: At best, BRICS resembles Europe’s ‘coalition of the willing’, a group formed after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nearly collapsed.
- Unmet founding demands: Since the first BRIC summit at Yekaterinburg, Russia (2009), members have demanded reform of the IMF, World Bank and UN and less reliance on western finance. Neither has happened.
- No integrated bloc: Better trade opportunities have not made BRICS an integrated economic bloc able to stand up to the ‘Bretton Woods Twins’.
How does China’s weight unbalance the grouping?
- Chinese preponderance: In nearly two decades, China’s economic weight has eclipsed every other member, giving it political heft and creating a serious imbalance.
- Global South credentials: The United States (US) President’s deference to China’s President in Washington in September 2026 shows China no longer belongs to the Global South of developing countries.
- Anti hegemony stance: China was a fledgling economy in 2009. Its own dominance now undercuts the grouping’s stance against Western hegemony (dominance by one power).
- India China tensions: India and China have had no serious clash since Galwan (2020), but relations remain uneasy.
- India’s gain: India need not fear the Thucydides Trap (war when a rising power challenges an established one) or Charles Kindleberger’s theories of a leaderless world economy. Membership still adds little to its strength.
Challenges
- Informal structure: No permanent secretariat or charter follows up BRICS declarations.
- Dollar dominance: The US dollar still settles over 80% of global trade, so local currency trade stays marginal.
- Mixed political systems: Democracies and autocracies struggle to agree on human rights norms.
- Expansion strain: A larger group risks becoming a talk shop like the Non Aligned Movement.
Way Forward
- Membership criteria: Members should fix formal criteria for full and partner members.
- Stronger lender: Strengthen the New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS lender, with more capital and members.
- Functional cooperation: Prioritise less sensitive areas such as health, space and education.
Conclusion
BRICS can still agree on paper, but a widening power gap among its members limits its ability to act together. Whether that gap becomes a shared asset or a veto will decide if membership adds real strength for India.
About BRICS
- Origin: A Goldman Sachs economist coined “BRIC” in 2001. Its Foreign Ministers first met on the UN General Assembly margins in 2006.
- Expansion: South Africa joined in 2011. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined in 2024, and Indonesia a year later.
- Combined weight: Members hold over 45% of world population and about 37% of global gross domestic product (GDP), measured at purchasing power parity.
Matching Previous Year Question
“[2026] Which of the following countries are members of the European Union? 1. Belarus 2. Poland 3. Germany 4. Switzerland (a) 1, 2 and 4 (b) 1 and 4 only (c) 2 and 3 (d) 2 and 4 only ANSWER: C”
