India Scores Diplomatic Win at BRICS Summit by
Securing Consensus Amid Deep Divisions
New Delhi ‘papered over’ differences to
keep the bloc focused on trade and tech priorities, analysts say
1.
Joint Declaration Adopted
o
India achieved a diplomatic success as BRICS chair
by steering the expanded 11-member bloc toward a unified joint
declaration.
o
The consensus was significant because BRICS members
remain divided over geopolitical conflicts and the future global order.
2.
India’s “Pragmatic Consolidation”
o
Analysts described India’s approach as “pragmatic
consolidation rather than transformation.”
o
New Delhi avoided forcing members to agree on
assigning blame for contentious conflicts.
o
The focus remained on areas of practical
cooperation such as trade, technology, agriculture and digital public
infrastructure.
3.
Middle East Compromise
o
BRICS called for maximum restraint amid
escalating Middle East tensions.
o
Leaders opposed the displacement of Palestinians.
o
The declaration avoided directly blaming individual
countries.
o
Analysts said the compromise allowed consensus but
resulted in weaker language on the Middle East conflict.
4.
Protectionism and Tariffs Criticised
o
Without directly naming the United States, BRICS
criticised protectionist trade policies and rising global tariffs.
o
This reinforced the bloc’s emphasis on a more
balanced global trading system.
5.
India’s Global South Agenda
o
India promoted:
§ Greater
representation of developing countries.
§ Fairer
international financial institutions.
§ Digital
public infrastructure.
§ Small-business
development.
§ Innovation
and incubation ecosystems.
6.
Breaking the May Deadlock
o
BRICS foreign ministers failed to produce a joint
statement in May because of disagreements, particularly between Iran and the
UAE over the Middle East conflict.
o
India resolved the impasse by using carefully
worded language that acknowledged differences while avoiding direct attribution
of blame.
7.
Consensus Came at a Price
o
Analysts said BRICS divisions were effectively “papered
over” rather than resolved.
o
The compromise enabled the bloc to shift its
attention toward developmental and economic issues.
8.
Economic and Development Cooperation
o
India advanced cooperation covering:
§ Global
supply chains.
§ Industrial
development.
§ Agriculture.
§ Trade.
§ Health.
§ Science
and innovation.
9.
Limited Progress on Key BRICS Projects
o
Little progress was reported on:
§ Cross-border
payments, endorsed by BRICS in 2020.
§ BRICS
Grain Exchange, proposed by Russia in 2023.
o
Cross-border payments continue to face technical,
regulatory and political obstacles.
10.
India vs China: Different BRICS Visions
o
Xi Jinping promoted a stronger BRICS role
in AI, trade, digital industries, smart manufacturing and talent development,
alongside a pushback against Western dominance.
o
Narendra Modi focused more on ensuring greater
representation of developing countries in global rule-making.
11.
“Anti-West” vs “Non-West”
o
Analysts characterised the difference as:
§ China: reducing
Western structural dominance and building alternative global architecture.
§ India: seeking
greater representation and participation for developing countries within the
international system.
o
India therefore prefers BRICS to complement rather
than directly replace existing international institutions.
12.
BRICS as a Flexible Platform
o
Analysts caution against judging BRICS by whether
it becomes a fully coherent geopolitical bloc.
o
Its strength may instead lie in issue-based
cooperation among countries with different strategic interests.
13.
Growing Membership
o
BRICS now has 11 full members and 10
partner countries.
o
More than 30 additional countries, including
Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have reportedly applied or expressed interest
in joining.
14.
India’s Strategic Balancing Act
o
India seeks to strengthen the Global South's
voice while preventing BRICS from becoming an instrument of Chinese
strategic influence.
o
The summit demonstrated that strategic autonomy
and pragmatic economic cooperation can coexist.
15.
China to Take Over BRICS Presidency
o
India will hand the BRICS presidency to China.
o
AI and climate leadership could receive greater
emphasis under China's chairmanship.
o
India and China will need to cooperate to maintain
continuity despite their competition for influence in the Global South.
Key
Takeaway
India’s major achievement was not
transforming BRICS but keeping it united despite serious geopolitical
divisions. By avoiding contentious blame-sharing and
concentrating on trade, technology, development and Global South
representation, New Delhi secured consensus. However, the unresolved Middle
East differences and limited progress on cross-border payments show the limits
of BRICS as a unified geopolitical bloc.
India
scored a diplomatic win at the latest Brics summit, analysts have said, after
steering an increasingly unwieldy bloc towards a joint declaration despite deep
divisions over geopolitical conflicts and the global order.
Observers
said New Delhi achieved “pragmatic consolidation” by avoiding forcing members
to assign blame for contentious geopolitical issues, keeping the focus on
trade, technology and greater representation for the Global South.
That
compromise came at a cost, however, with analysts noting that differences over
the Middle East and other regional conflicts were merely “papered over”.
During
the 18th Brics summit held in Delhi over the weekend, leaders from the expanded
11-member bloc addressed international conflicts, trade disputes and economic
governance before adopting a unified joint declaration.
In
it, leaders called for maximum restraint in the Middle East, expressed firm
opposition to the displacement of Palestinians and cautioned against the
weaponisation of critical minerals and technology.
Without
directly naming the United States, the bloc also criticised protectionist trade
policies and global tariff escalations.
As
host, India emphasised digital public infrastructure, fairer international
financial systems and stronger representation for developing nations.
Manoj
Kewalramani, a geopolitical analyst and chairman of the Takshashila
Institution’s geostrategy programme in India, said securing an agreed text was
“no easy feat”.
“The
fact that New Delhi could balance competing interests while getting principled
agreements is a success,” he said, adding that the declaration managed to focus
on issues without getting into “the politics of apportioning blame”.
Rityusha Tiwary, an assistant professor of
political science at the University of Delhi’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh College,
said India’s achievement as chair was one of “pragmatic consolidation rather
than transformation”.
She
said Delhi kept the agenda focused on areas where cooperation was politically
feasible and directly relevant to the developmental priorities of developing
countries, pointing to trade, technology, agriculture and digital public
infrastructure.
“India
has to manage a difficult balancing act. It wants Brics to strengthen the voice
of the Global South while ensuring that the organisation does not simply become
an instrument of Chinese strategic influence,” Tiwary said.
Brics’
foreign ministers failed to issue a joint statement in May due to sharp
disagreements between new members Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the
Middle East conflict, said Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South
programme at the Washington-based Quincy Institute.
“India
was able to find a solution to this impasse,” he said, referring to a paragraph
of the declaration that expressed “deep concern” and called for “maximum
restraint” over escalating tensions while omitting direct blame on specific
countries.
“The
price of this consensus, however, was weaker language on the Middle East war,”
Shidore said, noting that the final text only acknowledged various national
positions.
“So the divides in Brics were papered over,” he said, which
allowed leaders to shift focus to developmental issues. India, for instance,
contributed proposals on boosting small businesses and creating incubation and
innovation ecosystems.
Mihaela
Papa, director of research and principal research scientist at the MIT Centre
for International Studies in Massachusetts, said India advanced cooperation in
global supply chains, industrial development, agriculture, trade, health,
science and innovation.
However,
she added that little progress was made on the cross-border payments initiative
endorsed by the bloc in 2020 or the Brics Grain Exchange mooted by Russia in
2023. The former has moved slowly due to technical, regulatory and political
roadblocks, while the latter faces complex methodological and financial
hurdles.
‘Anti-West vs non-West’
During
the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed key initiatives for “greater
Brics” cooperation focusing on the Global South, artificial intelligence,
trade, digital industry, smart manufacturing and talent development.
Kewalramani
said Xi’s summit speeches referencing a “Cold War mentality” and unilateralism
were structured as a “pushback” against Western dominance.
“The
implied solution is an order in which Western structural advantage is reduced
and in which China’s global initiatives provide an architecture,” he said.
By
contrast, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus was not on Western
dominance but on the exclusion of developing nations.
“The
solution, therefore, is larger representation and a stake in rule-making. This
is the anti-West vs non-West distinction between the two,” Kewalramani said.
Tiwary
said Brics should not be judged on whether it became
a “coherent” geopolitical bloc, as its strength lay in being a flexible
platform for issue-based cooperation among countries “that do not share a
common strategic world view”.
“The
larger the grouping becomes, the greater its representational weight, but also
the greater the diversity of interests it has to accommodate,” Tiwary said.
Brics
currently has 11 full members – including Brazil, Russia, India and China – and
10 partner countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. More than 30
additional nations, including Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have formally
applied or expressed interest in joining.
Tiwary
said India’s chairmanship showed that strategic autonomy and Global South
leadership can coexist with pragmatic economic cooperation.
“The
harder question is whether this can be sustained once the chairmanship passes
to another member,” she added.
As
India prepares to hand over the presidency to China, Papa said the two Asian
powers would need to work closely to ensure continuity.
“China
has been more engaged on artificial intelligence and the climate leadership
agenda, so these areas may receive greater emphasis under its presidency,” Papa
said.
Beijing
sees Brics as a way to balance Washington and reinforce its implicit claim to
be leader of the Global South, according to Shidore.
“India
would like Brics to be more complementary to existing US-led institutions
rather than directly rivalling them,” he said, adding that Delhi also competed
with Beijing for leadership of the Global South.
“But
neither side has allowed their competitive elements to overpower their
constructive engagement with Brics. In this sense, both have shown maturity as
major powers in Asia.”