By Annunthra Rangan
Despite internal contradictions and leadership absences, BRICS has managed to project a surprisingly unified front at its latest summit, drawing global attention and reasserting its growing relevance in the international order. As India prepares to host the next BRICS summit, the timing is significant. Long underestimated by Western observers, BRICS is rapidly evolving from a loosely aligned economic club into a more influential geopolitical coalition.
BRICS has consistently positioned itself as a counterweight to Western-dominated financial and political structures. Today, that vision is gaining traction amid rising global dissatisfaction with existing systems of governance. Paradoxically, India, often seen as the most Western-aligned member of BRICS, is emerging as one of its greatest beneficiaries.
STRATEGIC SYNERGIES WITH NEW BRICS MEMBERS
India’s diplomatic and economic relationships with the group’s new members are already strong. Egypt is a growing security and trade partner; the UAE remains one of India’s most strategic allies across energy, investment, and diaspora ties; and India’s historical partnership with Ethiopia remains one of its oldest in Africa.
Among the founding members, BRICS continues to offer India both strategic opportunities and diplomatic space. The forum allows New Delhi to maintain strong ties with Moscow despite Western pressure and provides a platform for cautious engagement with China, even as border tensions linger. The recent announcement of a new border patrolling agreement, just before the summit, enabled a rare high-level meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines.
MULTIPOLARITY IN PRACTICE
India’s engagement with BRICS aligns closely with its core foreign policy priorities, offering both strategic and practical advantages on multiple fronts. At the heart of this engagement is the pursuit of strategic autonomy and support for a multipolar world order.
Through BRICS, India collaborates with like-minded nations to advocate for reforms in global institutions such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, while simultaneously reducing its reliance on Western-centric bodies like the IMF and World Bank. Economically, BRICS provides a valuable platform to strengthen trade and financial cooperation with emerging economies.
The New Development Bank serves as a key resource for financing infrastructure, climate action, and development projects. Moreover, initiatives that encourage trade in local currencies and promote collaboration on digital public infrastructure enhance India’s financial resilience and reduce vulnerability to external shocks.
ENERGY, TECH AND SECURITY GAINS
Energy security is another critical benefit. India’s partnerships with countries like Russia, Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia support stable access to oil and gas, while collaboration with Brazil and South Africa
in renewable energy helps diversify its energy mix.
On the technological front, BRICS enables cooperation in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space, and digital governance, boosting India’s innovation capacity. Security cooperation within BRICS also allows India to push for a unified stance against terrorism, especially cross-border threats, and engage in dialogue on cybersecurity and regional stability in key areas like the Indo-Pacific and Eurasia.
A VOICE FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Beyond these tangible gains, BRICS elevates India’s leadership role among developing nations. By championing Global South priorities such as climate justice, debt relief, and equitable vaccine access, India enhances its diplomatic influence and soft power.
Furthermore, the grouping serves as a platform to reinforce India’s long-standing call for reforming multilateral institutions, particularly its aspiration for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Crucially, BRICS also offers India a constructive space to manage its complex relationship with China, keeping diplomatic channels open while building stronger trilateral partnerships—particularly with Brazil and South Africa—to balance China’s growing sway within the bloc.
Above all, BRICS offers India a valuable avenue to exercise its core foreign policy doctrine of strategic autonomy, enabling it to engage with multiple power centres without being confined to one bloc. India’s growing role in BRICS complements its active participation in Western-aligned platforms like the Quad, allowing it to pursue a truly multipolar foreign policy.
TARIFF TENSIONS WITH WASHINGTON
On the other hand, India is facing growing pressure from the United States following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Indian goods. The warning, tied to India’s participation in the BRICS forum, comes at a sensitive time, just as New Delhi is finalizing a crucial trade agreement with Washington that could reduce the impact of existing 26 percent reciprocal tariffs. Trump accused BRICS of being “anti-American” and expressed concern that the bloc is working to undermine the US dollar’s global dominance.
The timing of Trump’s remarks is notable. They came just days after a BRICS summit in Brazil where member-states, including India, issued a joint statement condemning trade-distorting tariffs—widely seen as a criticism of US protectionism. While Brazil and South Africa publicly pushed back against Trump’s comments, India chose not to respond, signalling a deliberate effort to avoid escalation and safeguard its trade talks with Washington.
PRAGMATISM OVER PROVOCATION
Indian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, clarified that India’s engagement with BRICS is not aimed at challenging the dollar-centric global financial order. Instead, New Delhi views local currency trade arrangements as tools for minimizing transactional risk and promoting financial stability, particularly in times of global volatility. India has also consistently distanced itself from the idea of a unified BRICS currency, a proposal championed more aggressively by Russia and China.
This distinction is crucial as India attempts to differentiate its stance from more confrontational BRICS members. As a senior Indian diplomat noted during a press briefing, PM Modi’s recent state visit to Brazil included no discussions with his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Trump’s tariff threats, underscoring New Delhi’s preference to compartmentalize its strategic relationships.
Experts suggest that India’s longstanding role as a US partner in the Indo-Pacific, coupled with its careful approach within BRICS, may shield it from harsher American trade actions. “India has consistently drawn a line between local currency trade for economic prudence and ideological moves to dethrone the dollar,” said Mohan Kumar, a former Indian envoy and trade negotiator.
“It should not be viewed in the same light as China or Russia.”
NAVIGATING THE TIGHTROPE
Still, Trump’s broader frustration with BRICS and with efforts to de-dollarise global trade is unlikely to dissipate. He has previously warned of even steeper tariffs, up to 100 percent, on BRICS countries should they fully abandon dollar-based trade. For India, the stakes are high. The anticipated trade deal with the US, expected to be finalized by fall, could open critical market access and ease existing tariff burdens. Indian negotiators have already submitted their final proposals and are awaiting a US response.
India, which assumes the BRICS chairmanship in 2026, must now walk a fine diplomatic line. It seeks to champion multipolarity and enhance cooperation with the Global South, while preserving its strategic alignment with Western powers. Its neutral stance on de-dollarisation, focused more on resilience than resistance, will be pivotal in navigating this complex geopolitical landscape.
TERROR, CONDEMNATION, AND SOLIDARITY
BRICS member-nations also strongly condemned the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives. The joint declaration denounced terrorism in all forms, including cross-border terrorism, terror financing, and safe havens—an indirect reference to Pakistan.
PM Modi called the attack a direct assault on India’s soul and urged the international community to impose sanctions on terrorists without delay. The leaders also demanded the early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and rejected double standards in counter-terrorism efforts.
INDIA’S MOMENT ON THE GLOBAL STAGE
As India steps into a more prominent role within BRICS, it finds itself at a pivotal juncture, balancing its aspirations as a voice of the Global South with the need to preserve crucial strategic partnerships, particularly with the United States.
BRICS offers India an influential platform to champion reform in global governance, push back against protectionism, and lead in areas like counter-terrorism and sustainable development. However, growing US concerns over de-dollarisation and India’s alignment within BRICS underscore the complex geopolitical terrain New Delhi must navigate.
By maintaining a pragmatic and non-confrontational approach, distinguishing its economic engagement from ideological posturing, India reinforces its strategic autonomy and credibility on both sides. As the BRICS chairmanship in 2026 approaches, India’s challenge will be to leverage the bloc for inclusive cooperation without compromising its broader global partnerships. How it balances these priorities will shape not only the future of BRICS, but also India’s standing in a rapidly shifting world order.
—The writer is a Senior Research Officer at Chennai Centre for China Studies. Her research interests constitute China-WANA (West Asia and North Africa) relations and human rights