WHAT IS BRICS ALL ABOUT?

WHAT IS BRICS ALL ABOUT?

This week, India concluded the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, in a show of strength and diplomatic finesse. The idea of BRICS was first coined by Jim O’ Neil of Goldman Sachs, who saw this as an emerging economic and political bloc. The first BRICS Summit was held in 2009, with just the 4 original founders; Brazil, Russia, India, and China. In 2010, South Africa also joined and it became BRICS. Later on, in 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates were admitted, while in 2025 Indonesia joined the BRICS.

Apart from these 10 members, Saudi Arabia is included as the eleventh member of the BRICS, although KSA is yet to signify its acceptance to officially be part of the group. The only nation to formally refuse BRICS membership was Argentina due to its close ties with the US. Also, Turkey had expressed interest in joining the BRICS as a member. However, India had opposed the bid due to Turkey’s overt support to Pakistan. Also, being a member of NATO, members felt it would not fit into an alternate bloc.

WHY IS JIM O’ NEIL CRITICIZING THE BRICS ROLE NOW?

In a rather scathing article in Project Syndicate in 2024, Jim O’ Neil had said that BRICS had not lived up to its role in the last 20 years. He points to some interesting factors.

The BRICS remains a group of 11 countries dominated by China. For instance, China accounted for 66% of BRICS export trade and 59% of BRICS import trade.

Out of the trade surplus of $1.1 trillion for the BRICS, China alone accounted for about 70% of the overall surplus.

BRICS was broadly divided into an uneven trade balance. India and China accounted for 95% of total BRICS imports; serving as the largest consuming markets.

Many of the members like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and even India shared close ties with the US. BRICS was almost an anti-US bloc, that was unlikely to really put words into action.

In terms of market size, BRICS was dominated by China and India. However, both these nations had historically been at loggerheads; which made the group less effective.

In this context, Jim O’ Neil had expressed his disappointment in 2024 that BRICS had not lived up to its promise. He preferred the G20 grouping as a more appropriate forum for making concrete and actionable decisions.

WHAT WERE THE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BRICS SUMMIT 2026?

In a sense, all the criticism that Jim O’ Neil had penned about the BRICS have turned out to be largely correct.

India has spoken extensively about doubling its exports to BRICS from $96 billion to $200 billion in 5 years. However, the game plan on products and strategy is too sketchy.

On geopolitics, the BRICS was unable arrive at a consensus due to rather conflicting economic and strategic interests of various countries.

On the Russia-Ukraine war, resolution was peripheral as Russia is one of the core members of BRICS. Similarly, it glossed over the Iran war due to Iran being a member.

BRICS also stopped short of condemning the US and Israel on civilian killings due to the strategic interests of UAE and Saudi Arabia and trade interests of India and China.

BRICS did speak against unilateral sanctions, but there was no resolution to jointly stand up against such sanctions. A more united front in this case would have easily put pressure on the US against unilateral sanctions and unilateral tariffs.

The much talked about BRICS alternate payment system and currency was glossed over. India, UAE and Saudi Arabia would not be too keen to take on the US directly. Also, with a closed currency market, China really cannot provide currency leadership.

There was a mention BRICS Counter Terrorism strategy, but it is tough to fathom what it could actually mean. It is a sure reference to Pakistan; but China has had long relations with Pakistan and is unlikely to give it up. Also, Middle East countries have historical bonds with Pakistan. It is not clear how counter-terrorism will translate into action.

The big takeaway from the BRICS 2026 Summit was that 20-years is a long time to underline the relevance of a grouping. The BRICS has to arrive at a common minimum program; which they can cooperate on and action. That is the only way to translate words into action.