Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent five-nation diplomatic tour spanning Brazil, Ghana, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina was a demonstration of India’s strategic vision for the Global South. Centred around the BRICS summit in Brazil, these visits reinforced India’s position as a pivotal voice among emerging economies in a rapidly-evolving multipolar world. It showcased India’s intent to shape global governance by empowering the Global South, deepening regional cooperation and counterbalancing the hegemonic influences in multilateral platforms.
India’s efforts to amplify the voice of the Global South have gained momentum in recent years, culminating in the inclusion of the African Union into the G20 during India’s presidency in 2023. This precedent is now mirrored in BRICS, which is undergoing significant expansion. With India’s proactive involvement, countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE have joined the bloc, now termed BRICS+. Several more nations from West Asia, Africa and Latin America have expressed interest, viewing BRICS as a credible platform to champion their interests.
India’s current standing can be better appreciated by revisiting the origins of BRICS in the early 2000s and the foundational RIC or Russia-India-China framework. At that time, the global order was markedly different. Russia was a member of the G8, China was seamlessly integrating into West-led institutions, and India-China relations were relatively cordial. The inclusion of Brazil and South Africa expanded the group into BRICS, bound by a shared vision for a new multipolar world.
Over the past two decades, the BRICS economies have surged. In purchasing power parity terms, the bloc’s collective economy now stands at $60 trillion, surpassing the G7’s $45 trillion, driven largely by the dynamism of Asian and other Global South countries. However, BRICS is not without contradictions. Border tensions in 2013, 2017 and 2020 have significantly altered India-China relations. While the bloc continues to espouse unity, there are heavy undercurrents of mistrust and apprehension. India’s actions reflect an acute awareness of these realities.
During the Prime Minister’s five-nation tour, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in the US, highlighting a strategic balancing act. It underscored a commitment to a truly multipolar world, where India engages within South-South cooperation frameworks like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while also working with like-minded global partners to promote security, economic collaborations, stable supply chains, and freedom of navigation in critical regions.
India’s influence within BRICS is instrumental in ensuring the coalition remains aligned with its broader interests. With China’s strong clout in the grouping, it is imperative for India to maintain a proactive presence to prevent any unilateral redirection of trajectory. There have been repeated attempts to include Pakistan in the grouping, raising legitimate concerns given India’s security imperatives. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had declined to sign the joint communiqué at the recent SCO defence ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, citing its failure to acknowledge the Pahalgam terror attack though it had references to incidents in Balochistan, and its omission of India’s concerns related to terrorism. This episode serves as a reminder that India must remain alert to ensure multilateral forums do not evolve into platforms that undermine its core strategic and security interests.
Despite these challenges, the potential for economic cooperation within BRICS remains enormous. With all member nations and the wider Global South undergoing rapid digital and technological transformation, India is uniquely positioned to contribute to their development and digitisation trajectories. Its strengths in fintech, space and satellite technologies, digital public infrastructure, and green energy are invaluable assets for driving innovation-led partnerships.
The BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative, along with a growing preference for domestic currency trade, is advantageous for India. While cautious about endorsing a common BRICS currency due to practical concerns, India sees clear strategic benefits in enhancing local currency transactions, particularly as the bloc moves towards including more oil producing countries.
The Brazil summit marked several diplomatic victories for India. BRICS’ unequivocal condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack reaffirmed its alignment with India’s stance. The Rio joint declaration explicitly backed the aspirations of both India and Brazil to secure permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Furthermore, BRICS’ support for India’s ambition to host COP33 in 2028 emphasised trust in India’s capacity to have a leading role in global climate action.
In an increasingly polarised global landscape, where nations are often pressured to align with one Great Power or another, India offers a compelling alternative worldview. Rejecting the binary choices reminiscent of the Cold War, India advances a vision grounded in its civilisational ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, that the world is one family. Guided by the principle of ‘One World, One Planet, One Future’, India calls for reformed global institutions that reflect the realities of the present and the possibilities of the future.
India’s engagement in BRICS is not merely about asserting national influence; it is about shaping a global order where emerging economies have a rightful voice and a clear path to shared prosperity. India is set to assume the presidency of BRICS next year, presenting a significant opportunity to advocate for a more balanced, inclusive, and representative international order, where development, security, and innovation are genuinely global and collaborative endeavours in a multipolar world.
Anil K Antony | National Secretary and National Spokesperson, BJP
(Views are personal)