India's BRICS presidency provides an excellent opportunity to look beyond the headlines.
BRICS began in 2009 as a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining soon afterwards. It has since expanded substantially, bringing together major economies and energy-producing countries from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. India is now chairing the grouping for the fourth time. �
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The transformation is remarkable.
What began largely as an economic grouping has become a forum for discussing:
trade → finance → energy → technology → health → food security → climate → global governance → peace.
Why does BRICS matter?
Because the world economy is changing.
The traditional international order was built largely around institutions created after the Second World War, when the economic balance of power was very different.
Today, emerging economies have far greater economic and demographic weight.
BRICS itself now represents nearly half of humanity.
That gives the group considerable potential influence—but potential is not power unless countries can cooperate.
And therein lies the difficulty.
The BRICS paradox
BRICS countries do not agree on everything.
India and China have serious strategic differences.
Iran and the UAE have sharply different interests concerning regional security.
Russia has a difficult relationship with the West.
Brazil has its own priorities.
India maintains important relationships simultaneously with the United States, Europe, Russia, the Gulf countries and the wider developing world.
So BRICS is not a unified anti-Western alliance.
India in particular appears to favour a more nuanced approach: a stronger voice for the Global South without simply creating another rigid bloc.
That may actually be BRICS' greatest opportunity.
India's interesting strategy
India's 2026 programme has emphasised:
RESILIENCE
INNOVATION
COOPERATION
SUSTAINABILITY
And some of the initiatives are surprisingly practical.
India has promoted cooperation in:
🌾 agriculture and climate-resilient farming
🧬 vaccine research
🏥 digital health
🧠 mental-health training
🛰️ satellite remote sensing
🤖 artificial intelligence
🌱 sustainable tourism
💧 water management
📚 education
🔬 science and technology.
The BRICS science ministers also adopted the Chennai Declaration in August, emphasising collaborative research, scientific infrastructure, young innovators and technology cooperation. �
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I find that particularly significant.
From politics to practical cooperation
Imagine BRICS scientists sharing satellite data to monitor floods.
Imagine agricultural researchers exchanging drought-resistant crop knowledge.
Imagine hospitals sharing digital-health expertise.
Imagine universities collaborating on AI and biotechnology.
Imagine developing countries gaining access to technologies that previously remained concentrated in a handful of advanced economies.
That would make BRICS considerably more meaningful than another diplomatic forum.
And there is an even bigger possibility
The world is entering an age in which knowledge itself is becoming strategic power.
Semiconductors.
Artificial intelligence.
Quantum computing.
Biotechnology.
Space technology.
Rare-earth alternatives.
Advanced batteries.
Cybersecurity.
Clean energy.
The countries that master these technologies will possess enormous economic and geopolitical influence.
This is why India's emphasis on deep technology at the BRICS summit is so interesting.
The 37 Indian innovators being showcased are not merely business ventures. They represent a larger question:
Can emerging countries become creators of frontier technology rather than merely consumers of it?
That may ultimately be more important than any individual BRICS declaration.
What about the dollar?
Another important issue is the desire among some BRICS members to increase trade in national currencies and develop alternative payment mechanisms.
But we should be careful about headlines proclaiming the imminent "end of the dollar."
Creating an alternative international financial system is extraordinarily difficult.
It requires:
deep financial markets
confidence in currencies
stable institutions
reliable payment systems
convertibility
investor trust
enormous liquidity.
BRICS can certainly reduce dependence on existing arrangements in selected areas.
Replacing the dominant global financial architecture is another matter entirely.
The real test
The success of BRICS should therefore not be judged by how loudly it criticises the existing world order.
It should be judged by what it builds.
Can it produce:
better science?
better technology?
better trade?
better health cooperation?
better food security?
better infrastructure?
better opportunities for young people?
If yes, BRICS could become genuinely transformative.
If not, it risks remaining another large international forum producing declarations that are soon forgotten.
🌏 And perhaps this is India's greatest opportunity
India occupies a unique position.
It belongs to the developing world.
It has deep relationships with Russia.
It is building closer partnerships with the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.
It has major interests in the Gulf.
It has difficult but essential relations with China.
And it has a long civilisational tradition of thinking beyond rigid binaries.
That gives India an unusual diplomatic position:
not choosing one camp—but trying to connect camps.
Whether that strategy succeeds remains to be seen.
But today's BRICS Summit is an important experiment.
🌱 THE BIGGER LESSON
Perhaps the most interesting question is not:
"Will BRICS defeat the West?"
That is the wrong question.
The better question is:
Can nations with different political systems, histories and interests cooperate sufficiently to solve problems that no country can solve alone?
Climate change does not recognise borders.
Pandemics do not recognise borders.
AI does not recognise borders.
Food insecurity does not recognise borders.
Financial crises do not recognise borders.
And neither does human aspiration.
If BRICS can learn to cooperate despite differences, it may offer something the world desperately needs:
**COMPETITION WITHOUT CONFLICT.
COOPERATION WITHOUT UNIFORMITY.
DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT EXCLUSION.**
That would indeed be a new kind of world order.
And that is worth watching. 🙏
POSTSCRIPT
The New Delhi Declaration adopted at the BRICS Summit 2026 deserves a closer look.
Tomorrow, we shall examine its major provisions, significance and implications for India, BRICS and the wider Global South.
Grateful thanks to ChatGPT for its excellent help and wonderful support!🙏
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