BRICS expansion (2023-24) has diluted its original character. Do you agree? Substantiate with examples.

BRICS, conceived as a caucus of large emerging economies pressing for reform of global economic governance, became an eleven-member bloc after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined on 1 January 2024 and Indonesia in January 2025, with nine partner countries inducted alongside [1]. Expansion has diluted its cohesion, though not its founding purpose.

Grounds for agreement: dilution of character

• Heterogeneity of members: sanctioned Iran now sits alongside the UAE, a close Western trade partner, making a common political line harder to sustain [1].
• Consensus without institutions: BRICS has no permanent secretariat and works by consensus through leaders', ministerial and senior-officials' meetings [1]; a bloc of 11 members plus 9 partners such as Belarus, Cuba and Nigeria pushes outcomes toward the lowest common denominator [1].
• Agenda drift: the original economic-reform mandate now competes with contested political themes, and the sheer procedural load has grown — over 350 meetings in 25 cities during India's 2026 Chairship, against roughly 150 events in 2021 [1][4].

Grounds for disagreement: original character endures

• Enhanced bargaining weight: BRICS today accounts for about 49.5% of world population, 40% of global GDP and 26% of global trade — strengthening, not weakening, its claim to a greater voice [1].
• Institutional continuity: the New Development Bank, agreed at Fortaleza (2014) and established in 2015, still funds infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging economies and admits members beyond the founding five [2][3].
• Indian imprint intact: reform of the multilateral system and the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan remain live agenda items [1], and the 18th Summit at New Delhi is themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" [4].

Thus the dilution is one of coherence rather than of core purpose. Institutionalising coordination, deepening the NDB's development lending and anchoring the Delhi Summit in Global South development priorities can convert a larger membership into greater reformist leverage.