BRICS at a Crossroads: India’s Role in Reviving Reformed Multilateralism

Context

Ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the grouping faces growing internal divisions over its future direction. Its rapid expansion has increased its global weight but has also brought competing geopolitical interests into the forum. India therefore has an opportunity to prevent BRICS from becoming an anti-Western bloc and instead strengthen it as an independent platform for Global South cooperation and reformed multilateralism.

Understanding BRICS and Its Changing Character

BRICS was originally conceived as a platform through which emerging economies could gain greater influence in global economic and political institutions, particularly the UN, IMF, World Bank and WTO. Its underlying objective has been to promote a more representative and multipolar international order.

The grouping has now expanded from the original five members to 11 full members, with 10 partner countries, significantly increasing its geographical and economic reach.

• The expanded BRICS represents nearly 45% of the global population.
• It accounts for around 30% of global nominal GDP.
• In purchasing power parity terms, its economic weight is larger than that of the G7.

However, greater size has not automatically translated into greater cohesion.

Two Competing Approaches within BRICS

A major challenge is the emergence of different interpretations of what BRICS should become.

India’s Approach: A “Non-West” Platform

India favours a BRICS that remains strategically autonomous rather than explicitly anti-Western. Its emphasis is on:

• Reforming existing global institutions.
• Strengthening the voice of developing countries.
• Maintaining strategic autonomy and multi-alignment.
• Promoting practical cooperation in development, technology and sustainability.
• Advancing the 2026 chairship priorities of Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability (RICS).

China-Russia Approach: An Anti-Western Counterweight

China and Russia have increasingly sought to use BRICS as a mechanism for challenging Western geopolitical and financial influence. This approach places greater emphasis on:

• Reducing dependence on Western-led institutions.
• Developing alternative international mechanisms.
• Greater financial and economic de-dollarisation.
• Building parallel structures of global governance.

The difference between reforming the existing system and constructing an alternative system is therefore becoming a central fault line within BRICS.

Major Challenges to BRICS Cohesion

1. Expansion Has Increased Internal Complexity

The inclusion of countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia has broadened BRICS but also introduced new regional rivalries and divergent foreign-policy priorities.

This makes consensus-building considerably more difficult than it was among the original members.

2. Growing Geopolitical Polarisation

The Ukraine conflict and tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran have intensified disagreements over how BRICS should position itself internationally.

If BRICS becomes primarily an anti-Western platform, it could undermine India’s ability to maintain productive relations with both Western and non-Western partners.

3. Weakening of Consensus

The inability of the May 2026 BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi to produce a joint communique reflected the growing difficulty of reaching agreement among members.

A grouping built around diverse political systems and national interests requires consensus to retain institutional legitimacy.

4. Bilateral Rivalries Entering the Multilateral Forum

The expansion has brought regional disputes into BRICS deliberations. If bilateral disagreements increasingly determine collective decision-making, the organisation risks experiencing a form of “SAARC syndrome”, where unresolved bilateral tensions obstruct broader regional cooperation.

5. Parallel Institutions versus Institutional Reform

Another major disagreement concerns whether BRICS should reform existing global institutions or create alternatives to them.

China has promoted initiatives such as the Digital Silk Road, the proposed World AI Cooperation Organisation and digital financial infrastructure. India, however, has stronger incentives to pursue reforms within established institutions such as the UN, IMF and WTO rather than replacing them with structures dominated by any single major power.

6. Debate over a Common Currency

Proposals for a common BRICS currency or centralised clearing mechanism have received limited enthusiasm from countries such as India and Brazil.

India has greater interest in:

• Local-currency trade.
• Bilateral settlement arrangements.
• Interoperable payment systems.
• Linking domestic digital payment infrastructure.

This approach can reduce transaction costs and dependence on dominant currencies without creating a new currency architecture that could itself become dominated by one member.

7. Inconsistency over UN Reform

Although BRICS presents itself as a champion of the Global South, differences remain over the restructuring of global political institutions. China’s reluctance to clearly endorse permanent UN Security Council seats for India, Brazil and South Africa illustrates the gap between rhetoric about greater representation and actual geopolitical interests.

Why India’s Role Matters

India occupies a distinctive position because it maintains relationships across competing geopolitical groupings. It is simultaneously active in platforms such as BRICS, the Quad and other multilateral institutions.

Therefore, India should avoid allowing BRICS to evolve into a rigid geopolitical alliance against the West. Such a transformation could:

• Reduce India’s strategic autonomy.
• Complicate relations with the US and European countries.
• Narrow BRICS’ appeal among developing countries.
• Shift the grouping away from economic and developmental concerns.
• Increase Chinese influence over the organisation’s agenda.

Instead, India can position BRICS as a Global South platform that is neither Western-led nor anti-Western.

Way Forward

Restore Consensus as the Institutional Foundation

India should work towards ensuring that major declarations, communiqués and policy initiatives are based on genuine consensus. This would prevent the grouping from being driven by numerical majorities and preserve trust among diverse members.

Promote Payment Interoperability

Rather than rushing towards a common BRICS currency, members could expand:

• Local-currency settlements.
• Bilateral payment arrangements.
• Real-time payment linkages.
• Interoperability between CBDC and domestic payment systems.

This would provide practical financial cooperation while protecting national monetary sovereignty.

Return BRICS to Reformed Multilateralism

BRICS should concentrate on securing concrete reforms in:

• UN Security Council representation
• IMF quota and governance structures
• WTO dispute-settlement mechanisms
• Greater voice for developing economies in international financial institutions.

Keep Bilateral Disputes Outside BRICS Agendas

The grouping should establish conventions preventing bilateral territorial and geopolitical disputes from paralysing collective deliberations.

Prioritise Developmental Outcomes

BRICS cooperation should generate tangible benefits through areas such as:

• Disaster-resilient infrastructure.
• Agricultural and food-supply-chain resilience.
• Climate and sustainability initiatives.
• Digital public infrastructure.
• Technology cooperation.
• Development financing.

Conclusion

The expansion of BRICS has given the grouping unprecedented demographic and economic significance, but it has simultaneously exposed deep differences over its strategic purpose. India’s challenge at the 18th BRICS Summit is therefore not merely to manage disagreements but to shape the organisation’s long-term identity.

By defending strategic autonomy, consensus-based decision-making and reform of existing multilateral institutions, India can help transform BRICS into an effective and independent voice of the Global South rather than allowing it to become a fragmented anti-Western coalition.

Source : The Hindu