BRICS Summit Tests Expanded Bloc's Cohesion Amid Wars — SkimNews
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- BRICS leaders convene in New Delhi this weekend, with Putin, Xi Jinping, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expected to attend, as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and US-China tensions test the expanded bloc's cohesion.
- BRICS has grown from its original five members to 11 countries representing roughly half the world's population, but analysts say the expansion has exposed divisions as members pursue competing regional ambitions — including India vs. China, Iran vs. Saudi Arabia, and Egypt vs. Ethiopia.
- India will attempt to balance its longstanding Russia ties and energy/defence pacts against deepening strategic relations with the US, Israel, Japan, Australia and Europe, while also using the summit to engage China as Xi's first New Delhi visit in seven years potentially consolidates a diplomatic thaw.
- Reducing US dollar dependence is a major BRICS agenda item, with members discussing trade in local currencies and alternative payment systems — a push that has gained momentum from Western sanctions on Russia, though retired Indian diplomat Mahesh Sachdev cautioned it amounts to reducing exposure rather than 'frontal confrontations.'
- BRICS faces competing pressures on Iran: China and Russia back Tehran in international forums while India takes a cautious approach and Saudi Arabia and the UAE carry their own tensions with Iran, making a unified stance on the conflict unlikely.
- ICG analyst Praveen Donthi argued that 'the Global South is not a homogeneous entity,' meaning BRICS will struggle to mediate conflicts, but said incremental success is possible if the bloc keeps the expanded membership together, improves China ties, and offers developing countries a platform without forcing them to pick sides.
- Sachdev warned that if BRICS remains 'just a periodic talking shop and photo ops, then its relevance erodes,' underscoring that the bloc's influence hinges on whether members can agree on practical steps beyond joint statements.
Why it matters: The summit exposes a structural problem for the Global South's flagship bloc: 11 members with competing regional ambitions cannot speak with one voice on the wars defining 2025, meaning BRICS is more likely to deliver incremental financial coordination (local-currency trade, sanctions workarounds) than geopolitical mediation. India, the host, has the most to gain — a non-Western platform that lets it engage China without alienating Washington — but also the most to lose if BRICS hardens into an anti-Western bloc New Delhi doesn't want.
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