BRICS health diplomacy is increasingly becoming a vehicle for India's soft power projection. Critically evaluate with recent examples.

Soft power, as Joseph Nye framed it, is influence earned through attraction rather than coercion. India's BRICS Chairship 2026, themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" [3], has turned the grouping's health track into a visible showcase for Indian capabilities — though the projection outpaces measurable strategic gain.

How BRICS health diplomacy advances India's soft power

• Agenda-setting on traditional medicine: the 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting at Chandigarh (23–24 July 2026) produced the first Ministerial Declaration with a dedicated TCIM section and endorsed a new Expert Working Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, which WHO called the most significant political recognition of traditional medicine in BRICS history [2].
• Institutional authorship: India hosted the First BRICS Health Working Group Meeting and the TCIM meeting of 21 July 2026, where the Terms of Reference were finalised by consensus, embedding an Indian priority into BRICS machinery [1].
• Civilisational branding with scientific cover: the Ministry of Ayush's side event on education, scholarships and faculty exchange extends Ayush's reach across BRICS societies [1], while the Declaration's link to WHO's Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 lends multilateral legitimacy [2].
• Beyond Ayush: leadership of the BRICS TB Research Network — the bloc carries nearly half the global TB burden — and the BRICS GxP White Paper on regulatory harmonisation reinforce India's "pharmacy of the world" image [3].

Limitations of the claim

• The Working Group rests on non-binding, consensus-based ToR, not a treaty; declaratory wins need not become capability [1].
• With eleven members, China's competing traditional medicine diplomacy and Beijing's financial weight dilute Indian primacy.
• Soft power assets remain hostage to domestic credentials — evidence generation and quality regulation in Ayush are still maturing, which is precisely why "clinical validation" was written into the Declaration [2].

On balance, BRICS health diplomacy is a genuine and growing, but not yet decisive, soft power instrument for India. Converting normative leadership into influence requires delivering the promised multi-country studies and digital knowledge platforms, and anchoring Ayush's global appeal in verifiable domestic regulatory strength — the surest route from attraction to trust.