The biggest India-related geopolitical story today is unfolding in New Delhi, where India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit as the expanded grouping attempts to demonstrate that it can become a serious force in global diplomacy and economic governance.
The summit has brought some of the world’s most consequential leaders to India, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The timing is particularly significant because BRICS is meeting against the backdrop of wars and geopolitical tensions in West Asia, continuing uncertainty around Ukraine and growing competition between major global powers.
For India, this isn’t simply another international summit. It is an opportunity to position New Delhi as a bridge between competing power blocs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly stressed that BRICS should not be viewed as an anti-Western organisation. Instead, India wants the grouping to become a platform through which developing countries have greater influence over global decision-making. At the summit, Modi argued for greater representation for the Global South in institutions such as the United Nations Security Council and international financial institutions.
That distinction matters.
BRICS has changed dramatically since it originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Its expanded membership now includes countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, giving the bloc enormous demographic and economic weight.
But that expansion also creates a major problem: the members do not necessarily agree with one another.
India and China remain strategic competitors. Iran and Gulf states have conflicting interests. Russia’s relationship with the West remains deeply contentious. And India itself continues to maintain important economic, defence and diplomatic relationships with the United States, Europe and other Western countries.
That makes India’s diplomatic balancing act particularly important.
The summit produced a New Delhi Declaration, with BRICS leaders expressing concern about conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and calling for diplomatic solutions. The bloc also criticised unilateral sanctions and pushed for a larger role for developing countries in international institutions.
One of the more important themes is the group’s attempt to reduce dependence on Western-controlled financial mechanisms.
BRICS countries have discussed increasing the use of national currencies in trade and developing alternative payment mechanisms. India has also been pushing initiatives involving digital currencies and cross-border payments. However, this does not mean that BRICS has suddenly created a replacement for the dollar-dominated financial system. The differences between members remain substantial.
The summit is also significant because of India’s diplomatic choreography.
Modi has held discussions with Putin, Xi and other leaders during the summit, allowing India to simultaneously strengthen its relationships with Russia and China while maintaining its broader international partnerships.
His meeting with Putin focused on areas including defence, energy, trade, space and technology. The two countries also discussed expanding economic cooperation, while the wider BRICS discussions have been shaped by the impact of geopolitical conflicts on energy and maritime trade.
For India, therefore, BRICS is less about creating a new military or economic alliance and more about increasing India’s diplomatic room to manoeuvre.
New Delhi wants a world in which it doesn’t have to choose between Washington, Moscow and Beijing.
And that is perhaps the most important message coming out of this summit.
India is attempting to make itself indispensable to multiple sides at once.
The success of that strategy will ultimately depend on whether BRICS can move beyond declarations and actually deliver cooperation on trade, technology, health, infrastructure, payments and global governance.
For now, however, the summit has put India firmly at the centre of one of the world’s biggest geopolitical conversations.