Archive · 10 Sep 2026
India’s BRICS Challenge: Building Cooperation Without Anti-Western Cohesion
India is leading BRICS during a time when the group has more members and different opinions.
The big question is what success should mean for India.
Success probably will not be measured by how long its declaration is.
India wants BRICS to help countries in the Global South work together.
At the same time, India needs the United States, Europe and Japan for technology, money and security partnerships.
India may try to improve BRICS financing and help members use their own currencies more often.
It may also work on technology cooperation and stronger supply chains.
The group may never agree on everything, but it could still cooperate on issues where its members share interests.
India’s BRICS chairship will be judged by whether it makes the expanded group more functional.
India must balance BRICS as a Global South platform with ties to the United States, Europe, Japan and Indo-Pacific partners.
Potential priorities include New Development Bank reform, financing and local-currency mechanisms.
The article favors practical local-currency cooperation over pursuing an unrealistic common currency.
A successful BRICS may remain diverse and competitive while cooperating where members’ interests overlap.
- Who
- India and the BRICS members, including an increasingly diverse and enlarged membership.
- What
- India is expected to test whether BRICS can become a more functional pragmatic institution without becoming more anti-Western.
- When
- The assessment focuses on India’s 2026 chairship.
- Where
- Within BRICS, with implications for global governance and India’s relationships with the United States, Europe, Japan and Indo-Pacific partners.
- Why
- India needs BRICS as a Global South platform while relying on external partners for technology, capital and strategic balance.
Global South Autonomy
External Partnerships
BRICS’s strategic direction
Global South Autonomy
BRICS should serve as a strong Global South platform and develop practical mechanisms such as local-currency cooperation.
External Partnerships
BRICS should avoid becoming anti-Western because India depends on the United States, Europe, Japan and other Indo-Pacific partners.
Meaning of cohesion
Global South Autonomy
A larger and more diverse BRICS may prioritize shared interests without requiring complete political agreement.
External Partnerships
The group’s diversity and internal competition may limit the level of cohesion associated with traditional Western institutions.
- Central question
- Whether an enlarged BRICS can become more functional without becoming more anti-Western.
- India’s balancing act
- India seeks a Global South platform while depending on the United States, Europe, Japan and other Indo-Pacific partners.
- Financial priority
- Progress on reform and financing for the New Development Bank.
- Currency approach
- Pursue local-currency mechanisms without seeking an unrealistic common currency.
- Other potential priorities
- More resilient supply chains and technology cooperation.
- Membership challenge
- BRICS must manage a membership that is increasingly diverse.
- Long-term vision
- A pragmatic, multipolar institution that cooperates where members’ interests overlap.