Why in news?

India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13, 2026, as the grouping marks 20 years since its formalisation in 2006.

In this context, this article assesses what BRICS has achieved, the tensions within it, and how India can give it a practical developmental agenda instead of an anti-West posture.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• BRICS vs G7: The Numbers
• Evolution of BRICS
• India's Strategic Engagement
• Divergences: Anti-West Bloc or Economic Forum?
• Expansion and the Consensus Problem
• The Dollar Question
• Pakistan's Membership Bid

BRICS vs G7: The Numbers

• In 2000, Brazil, Russia, India and China together held roughly 23 per cent of global GDP (PPP), while the G7 held nearly 52 per cent.
• By 2024, the positions had reversed. The expanded 11-member BRICS accounted for about 36.8 per cent, while the G7's share fell below 29 per cent.
• Other key comparisons:
  • Population: BRICS ~3.7 billion (49.5 per cent of world); G7 ~771 million (10 per cent)
  • Nominal GDP: BRICS ~$28.5 trillion; G7 ~$46.6 trillion
  • Land area: BRICS ~39.7 million sq km; G7 ~21.7 million sq km
  • Oil production: BRICS ~43.6 per cent of global output
  • Natural gas: BRICS ~36 per cent of global production
  • Rare-earth reserves: BRICS ~72 per cent of global reserves
  • Agriculture: BRICS produces 42 per cent of world wheat, 52 per cent of rice, 46 per cent of soybeans
  • Growth: BRICS projected at 3.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.7 per cent in 2026, over three times the G7 average
• BRICS accounts for roughly a quarter of global trade.
  • Intra-BRICS merchandise trade reached $1.17 trillion in 2024, a 13-fold rise from $84 billion two decades ago.
  • The bloc holds $5.2 trillion in foreign reserves and produces 78.2 per cent of global mineral coal.
• However, per capita GDP tells a different story: the G7 averages around $53,000 while BRICS averages roughly $8,200.
• The bloc's weight comes from population and resource scale, not individual prosperity.

Evolution of BRICS

• BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) began in 2006, following a Goldman Sachs projection identifying these economies as future growth engines.
• It evolved from a foreign ministers' dialogue into a leaders' forum. The first summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.
• South Africa joined in 2010.
• In 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were added.
• Indonesia became the 11th member in January 2025.
• BRICS has grown from an economic grouping into a geopolitical entity presenting itself as the voice of the Global South.
• Yet its central grievance remains unchanged: global institutions have not kept pace with the shift in economic and political power.

India's Strategic Engagement

• India's participation reflects multi-alignment underpinned by strategic autonomy. New Delhi engages simultaneously with BRICS, the G20, the Quad and the SCO without alliance commitments.
• For India, multi-alignment is about creating room for manoeuvre, not choosing between power centres.
• India's institutional contribution is significant. At the 2012 New Delhi summit, India proposed a BRICS development bank, which became the New Development Bank (NDB).
  • By mid-2026, the NDB had approved about $44 billion across 141 projects.

Divergences: Anti-West Bloc or Economic Forum?

• The most fundamental tension is over purpose. China and Russia position BRICS as a counterweight to Western dominance and the dollar.
• Beijing has driven expansion to project leadership of the Global South. Moscow, excluded from SWIFT and under sanctions, sees BRICS as an economic lifeline.
• India and Brazil view BRICS as an economic and reform-oriented grouping. India does not share the enthusiasm for confronting the West.
• Two episodes illustrate this:
  • In 2023, Russia demanded payment for oil in yuan. India refused, insisting on dollars or rupees.
  • In February 2026, India signed a framework trade agreement with the US, reportedly agreeing to halt Russian oil purchases in exchange for reduced tariffs, prioritising national interest over bloc solidarity.

Expansion and the Consensus Problem

• Expansion has introduced sharp contradictions. At the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting in New Delhi in May 2026, members failed to agree on a joint declaration because of a direct confrontation between Iran and the UAE, who are on opposite sides of an active conflict.
• India, as host, issued a chair's statement noting "differing views" on West Asia. Since BRICS works on consensus, expansion has made agreement on geopolitical crises far harder.

The Dollar Question

• US President Donald Trump has threatened 100 per cent tariffs on BRICS nations if they create a new currency. This has largely shelved the idea of a single BRICS currency.
• Members have instead moved towards bilateral settlement in national currencies:
  • Russia and China settle over 90 per cent of trade in ruble and yuan.
  • Russia and India have moved about 90 per cent of direct payments to national currencies through Special Rupee Vostro Accounts authorised by the RBI.
  • India and the UAE have run a rupee-dirham system since July 2023.
  • India and Indonesia operationalised a rupee-rupiah framework in July 2026, with local-currency trade rising 163 per cent to $8.45 billion in the first two months of 2026.
• The BRICS Pay system, to be unveiled at the New Delhi summit, will link Russia's SPFS, China's CIPS, India's UPI and Brazil's Pix, allowing settlement without dollar correspondent banks.
• India favours interoperable central bank digital currencies over a supranational currency, reflecting its UPI experience.
• Yet the dollar still holds 57.13 per cent of global central bank reserves (Q1 2026), and no BRICS member is building rupee, yuan or rand reserves at scale.

Pakistan's Membership Bid

• Pakistan applied for membership in November 2023, but its bid remains contentious due to recurring balance-of-payments crises, IMF dependence, its record on terrorism, political instability and weak policy continuity.
• Its dependence on China could increase Beijing's influence, and it has limited capacity to contribute to the BRICS agenda.

Conclusion

The Iran-Israel-US conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war will test India's ability to secure a joint declaration. Visits by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin offer scope for high-level consultations.

Beyond geopolitics, the summit will focus on resilient supply chains, reform of global financial institutions, strengthening the NDB and expanding intra-BRICS trade.

Over the next decade, India can preserve the reform agenda while adding digital public infrastructure, climate finance, health cooperation, critical minerals, local-currency payments and inclusive connectivity.