Context:

• The 18th BRICS Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 12–13, 2026. India is the chair this year.
• In this context, former BRICS Sherpa T.S. Tirumurti argues that BRICS has drifted far from its original purpose.
• The Delhi summit gives India a chance to bring coherence back to the expanded grouping and restore its reform-oriented agenda.

BRICS Was Built for Reform, Not Rivalry

• BRICS was formed to give Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa a greater voice in global governance, especially in financial and economic institutions.
• Its aim was a more equitable multilateral order. India was an enthusiastic early participant and saw the group as a vehicle for real reform.
• India hosted its first BRICS Summit in 2012 (the fourth overall) under the theme "Global Stability, Security and Prosperity."
• The Indian presidency helped lead to the creation of the New Development Bank (BRICS Bank). India also pushed for integrating a counter-terrorism architecture into BRICS' work.

China Changed the Direction of BRICS

• China saw BRICS differently. It treated the group as a counterpoise to Western dominance and as a platform to amplify its own global ambitions.
• In 2010, BRICS countries accounted for nearly 20 per cent of world GDP, which made the group useful for China.
• Through BRICS-Plus and BRICS Outreach, China sought to reach the Global South and position itself as the second pole in a future bipolar world.
• India soon found itself doing two jobs at once: pursuing reform and acting as a counterweight to China.
• India, Brazil and South Africa also realised that Chinese support for reform was selective.
  • China did not back their bid for permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
• India therefore shifted its focus to BRICS consolidation and intra-BRICS cooperation.
• This year's theme for India's chairship rests on four pillars — Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. It draws on PM Modi's vision of "Humanity First" and a "people-centric" approach.

The Consensus Principle Is Under Strain

• Consensus kept BRICS cohesive. There was a real danger that BRICS would go the way of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where the majority can push its views through.
• India and Brazil resisted this. The 2019 Brasilia Summit was held with only the five original members and no invited guests.
• In 2020, under the Russian presidency, the first non-consensus chair's statement was issued on COVID-19.
• The same happened at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting in New Delhi in May 2026 because the new members could not agree. Experts warn that if non-consensus documents become routine, BRICS will cease to be effective.

Expansion Has Tested Cohesion

• China pushed for expanding the New Development Bank and then BRICS itself. India and Brazil resisted but could not prevent it.
• BRICS now has 11 members after the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia, along with 10 partner countries.
• India's caution has been vindicated. The new members have begun fighting among themselves and are subverting BRICS through bilateral conflicts.
• The original five have serious differences too, but they know how to manage them for the greater good of the group.
• In this context, analysts cautions that BRICS must not become another SAARC, where bilateral disputes paralysed the organisation.

The Struggle Between "Non-West" and "Anti-West"

• India wants BRICS to remain a "non-West" group. Some members are pushing to make it "anti-West."
• This pressure is growing because of several developments: China's competition with the US for global leadership, Russia's war in Ukraine, and Iran being bombarded by the US and Israel.
• India's own position has become harder. Brazil and India face punitive tariffs from US President Donald Trump. The US Congress is considering legislation to penalise countries importing Russian oil.
• The Quad is being weakened by the US, India-US relations are under pressure, and Pakistan is being courted by the US at India's expense. The more erratic the US is towards BRICS, the greater the risk of BRICS moving in the wrong direction.
• Fortunately, many other BRICS members share India's view. They want change in the global order, but not geopolitical realignment with China and Russia. They benefit from engaging with multiple actors across camps.

The Larger Danger of Parallel Global Structures

• Both the US and China are building parallel visions of the world and playing by their own rules rather than negotiated international norms.
• Neither is interested in reforming existing institutions. They are creating parallel structures in emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence, digital and internet governance, data ownership, 5G/6G and telecom, satellite navigation, and electric vehicles.
• China has set up a new World AI Cooperation Organisation in Shanghai. This adds to earlier initiatives like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Digital Silk Road, all of which challenge the Bretton Woods institutions.
• China sees BRICS as one vehicle for these goals. Its push for de-dollarisation through a common BRICS currency has received a lukewarm response. Members are uncomfortable with a renminbi-dominated currency.
• They prefer linking payment systems, central bank digital currencies and national-currency transactions. Still, China is formally launching mBridge, an alternative payment system. India does not want an alternative Bretton Woods system dominated by China.

Reviving Reformed Multilateralism

• The Delhi Summit is an opportunity for course correction. India has worked hard to persuade new members to set aside political differences.
• PM Modi first articulated the idea of "reformed multilateralism" at the 2018 BRICS Summit in South Africa. By 2019, India, Brazil and South Africa had placed it in the Brasilia Summit document.

BRICS as the Voice of Global South Middle Powers

• At Davos, the Canadian Prime Minister spoke of West-centric middle powers coming together. Global South middle powers are different, and BRICS is the only credible organisation of such powers.
• It has weaknesses: China is hardly a middle power and holds disproportionate influence, and some deserving middle powers are absent.
• India and China need to find greater synergy on emerging global issues even as their bilateral differences are contained. Despite these limitations, BRICS has great geopolitical and geo-economic potential.

Conclusion

• BRICS has drifted from reform towards rivalry, and expansion has weakened its cohesion.
• As chair of the Delhi Summit, India must revive the grouping's original purpose of reformed multilateralism, protect the consensus principle, and keep BRICS "non-West" rather than anti-West.
• This serves India's core interest of multi-alignment. If India does not lead, others will.