Syllabus: GS2/International Relations; Global Grouping
Context
- India’s presidency of BRICS comes at a time of global uncertainty marked by geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, and technological disruptions, aimed to utilise the potential of BRICS countries together for greater global welfare.
BRICS
- Originally BRIC (2001, coined by Jim O’Neill), and became BRICS in 2010 with the inclusion of South Africa.
- Members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and membership was expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
- Objectives:
- Promote multipolar world order
- Reform global financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, UNSC
- Enhance South-South cooperation
- Support sustainable development and inclusive growth
Significance
- The total GDP of the BRICS nations in nominal dollar terms as of 2026 is over US$ 32 trillion, accounting for 28–30% of global GDP.
- In Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, the BRICS is US$ 78 trillion, representing more than 40% of global GDP, surpassing the G7’s 27.8% share in PPP terms.
Institutional Mechanisms
- New Development Bank (NDB), 2014
- Headquarter: Shanghai
- Purpose: Finance infrastructure & sustainable development projects
- Seen as an alternative to World Bank/IMF dominance
- Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA):
- Provides liquidity support during financial crises
- Helps reduce dependence on Western-led financial systems
BRICS Presidency
- BRICS Presidency refers to the annual rotating chairmanship, where one member country leads the forum for a year.
- Each country acts as chair (host) for one year
- It rotates among members in alphabetical order.
India’s Presidency of BRICS
- India assumed the BRICS Presidency on 1 January 2026, for the fourth time since the grouping’s inception in 2009.
- India’s BRICS Chairship is guided by the theme ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting a people-centric and humanity-first approach articulated by the Prime Minister of India at the Rio Summit (2025).
Key Priorities Under India’s Presidency
- Institutional Strengthening: India seeks to evolve BRICS from a consultative platform to an implementation-oriented institution.
- It reiterated the need for reforms in multilateral institutions such as the UNSC, the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO, so that global decision-making structures better reflect contemporary economic and geopolitical realities.
- Economic and Financial Cooperation: Key emerging focus areas under India’s presidency include financial innovation, particularly the proposal to link BRICS central bank digital currencies, trade facilitation in national currencies, infrastructure development, and sustainable finance.
- India focuses on reform without destabilisation, supporting calibrated local currency settlements where economically viable, rather than ideological resistance to the dollar-based system.
- Supply Chain Resilience: Particularly in semiconductors, critical minerals, and pharmaceuticals, should be a priority on the agenda.
- Recent export controls on critical minerals and technology may have serious repercussions for global supply chains and for BRICS integration.
- Climate Action and Sustainable Development: India is expected to advance climate action, disaster risk reduction and support for SDGs, consistent with international commitments under COP30 and future climate forums.
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): India’s own DPI ecosystem like Aadhaar, UPI, CoWIN positions it uniquely to lead the BRICS conversation on technology governance and digital cooperation.
- Climate, health, and clean energy are the top priorities, with India committed to a people-centric, climate-oriented presidency centred on resilience and sustainable growth.
Challenges India Needs To Navigate
- Managing Internal Contradictions: BRICS’s rapid expansion has increased its weight along with its heterogeneity.
- Fissures in the Transatlantic Partnership between Europe and the US, as well as within NATO, have significantly enhanced uncertainty in global affairs, making BRICS consensus-building harder.
- Divergent Interests Among Members: India’s interests and priorities within BRICS differ significantly from those of China and Russia.
- China favours rapid expansion to shape a new world order.
- Russia supports expansion primarily to counter the West.
- India favours a more cautious approach to prevent losing influence or diluting its leadership.
- Preventing Geopolitical Drift: India intends to prevent BRICS from turning into an ideological bloc against the West, preserving strategic autonomy and allowing partnerships outside BRICS.
India as Voice of the Global South
- India’s BRICS presidency is an extension of its broader foreign policy doctrine i.e. strategic autonomy combined with active multilateralism.
- India has positioned itself as a bridge between the developed and developing worlds.
- Geopolitically, India’s BRICS chairship is positioned as a stabilising and consensus-building effort within an increasingly multipolar world.
- India has emphasised South-South cooperation, reform of global governance institutions, poverty alleviation, climate transition, and development financing, while avoiding confrontational postures.
Conclusion
- India’s 2026 presidency of BRICS, at a time of weakening global governance, protectionist policies, and heightened uncertainty, carries renewed hopes and expectations of collaboration, governance, and delivery.
- India is well-suited to build coherence in an increasingly heterogeneous grouping that is consultative, incremental, and consensus-driven.
| Daily Mains Practice Question [Q] Examine the key priorities of India’s BRICS Presidency and analyze its strategic significance in shaping a multipolar global order. |
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