The expansion of BRICS has added heft but diluted coherence. Critically analyse in light of recent intra-BRICS frictions.

BRICS began as a grouping of five emerging economies. The Johannesburg Summit in 2023 began its expansion [1], and Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE became full members in January 2024 [2]. The bigger grouping has more weight in the world, but its members now agree on less, as the Iran–India row over medicine flights in October 2026 showed [4].

Heft added

• Wider geography: Egypt and Ethiopia gave Africa more representation [1]. Indonesia's entry in 2025 added Southeast Asia [2].
• Energy weight: Iran and the UAE bring major hydrocarbon producers into a grouping that already had large energy consumers like India and China.
• Partner tier: The Rio de Janeiro Declaration welcomed partner countries such as Belarus, Bolivia and Kazakhstan [3]. This makes BRICS a stronger platform for the Global South.

Coherence diluted

• Sanctions split: India refused to let Iran Air fly medicines to Tehran because of the risk of U.S. secondary sanctions. Iran appealed for solidarity from a "fellow BRICS member", and its Speaker then skipped the BRICS Parliamentary Forum hosted by India [4].
• Different views on the West: Members exposed to sanctions want a common front against the West. India wants a grouping that is non-Western but not anti-Western, which keeps its strategic autonomy intact.
• Divergent norms: India abstained on UNSC Resolution 2664 on humanitarian carve-outs, citing misuse by terrorist groups [5]. Iran insists that humanitarian aid is outside every sanction [4].
• Old rivalries continue: India–China border tensions since Galwan (2020) already limited trust inside BRICS. Expansion has added more bilateral disputes.
• Consensus is harder: With more members, joint declarations tend to settle on the lowest common position.

Assessment The frictions are real, but they are not fatal. India offered to deliver the medicines through Armenia rather than refusing the aid outright [4]. This shows that members bargain and look for workarounds, and do not break with each other. BRICS has always worked as a flexible coalition of interests, not as an alliance.

Overall, expansion has added breadth at some cost to unity. BRICS can recover coherence by focusing on shared, practical agendas: rules on over-compliance with sanctions, which the UN Special Rapporteur says harms access to medicines [6], development finance, and reform of global institutions. India should lead this effort as a bridge between the West and the Global South, in line with the spirit of SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals).