India and the plausible multilateralism of BRICS

1. At a Glance

• BRICS is a plurilateral grouping of major emerging economies. India is described as an "integral pillar" of it. [3]
• The Hindu's analysis argues that BRICS's very structure gives India space for strategic autonomy amid great-power rivalry. [3]
• Indian debate splits three ways:
• Optimists see BRICS as a vehicle for multipolarising the global order.
• Sceptics fear domination by Russia and China.

• A third group dismisses it as an annual gathering that generates "strategic noise" and wants India to prioritise the U.S. partnership. [3]

• Why it matters for UPSC: India chaired BRICS in 2026 and hosted the 18th Summit, which makes it a high-probability IR topic. [1][2]

2. Why in the News

• The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026. [1][3]
• It was the first BRICS annual summit since the U.S.–Israel war on Iran began on 28 February 2026. The article calls the war "unprovoked" and places it in India's extended neighbourhood. [3]
• The Presidents of Iran, Russia and China attended, among other leaders. India, host and a close strategic partner of the U.S. and Israel, was in the chair. [3]
• The article is dated 24 September 2026 (Page 8, Chennai print edition). [3]

3. Background & Evolution

• India's chairships: 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2026. The 2026 chairship, its fourth, began on 1 January 2026. [1]
• The 2026 theme is "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability". It reflects a "people-centric, humanity-first" approach that the PM articulated at the 2025 Rio Summit. [1]
• Chairship milestones:
• The first BRICS Sherpas meeting under India's chairship was held in New Delhi on 9–10 February 2026. [2]
• The 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum was held in New Delhi on 11–12 June 2026. [4]

• India hosted the 3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction, which adopted a joint statement. [1]

• Not source-verified in this session: BRICS began as BRIC (2006) and gained South Africa in 2010. Verify before use.

4. Core Static Facts

• Chair 2026: India (4th time). [1]
• Summit: 18th, New Delhi, 12–13 Sept 2026. [1]
• Scale of chairship: more than 350 meetings and engagements across 25 cities. [1]
• Tracks and working groups in 2026:
• Sherpas [2]
• Health Working Group [5]
• Urbanisation Forum [4]
• MSME cooperation [6]

• Livestock technology and feed systems dialogue [7]

• Nodal agency: the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) hosts the BRICS India 2026 page. [1]

• Membership and NDB details: not retrieved (second search failed). Consult MEA before using them.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Geopolitical / Strategic

• BRICS's structure lets India hedge: it sits alongside Russia, China and Iran while remaining a close partner of the U.S. and Israel. [3]
• The Russia/China domination worry is the central sceptic argument. [3]
• Hosting the Presidents of Iran, Russia and China just after the Iran war tests India's strategic autonomy and its balancing act. [3]

Economic / Developmental

• The chairship agenda goes beyond geopolitics. It covers MSME cooperation [6], urbanisation [4] and livestock technology [7].
• The people-centric framing serves Global South development priorities. [1]

Governance / Administrative

• Disaster risk reduction produced a ministerial joint statement, which shows consensus-based output. [1]
• Consensus is the operating norm, and the article notes "internal contradictions". [3]

Ethical / Normative

• The article criticises the Iran war as "unprovoked". This puts pressure on India's stance on sovereignty and international law. [3]

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 2025 Rio Summit: the PM set out the people-centric, humanity-first approach. [1]
• 1 Jan 2026: India assumed the BRICS chairship. [1]
• 9–10 Feb 2026: first Sherpas meeting, New Delhi. [2]
• 28 Feb 2026: the U.S.–Israel war on Iran began. [3]
• 11–12 June 2026: 13th Urbanisation Forum. [4]
• 12–13 Sept 2026: 18th Summit, New Delhi. [1][3]

7. Prelims Hooks

• India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on 1 Jan 2026. [1]
• Earlier Indian chairships: 2012, 2016, 2021. [1]
• The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi, 12–13 Sept 2026. [1]
• 2026 theme: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. [1]
• The chairship involved 350+ meetings across 25 cities. [1]
• First Sherpas meeting under India's chair: 9–10 Feb 2026. [2]
• 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum: New Delhi, 11–12 June 2026. [4]
• The people-centric, humanity-first approach was articulated at the 2025 Rio Summit. [1]
• The 18th Summit was the first since the 28 Feb 2026 U.S.–Israel war on Iran. [3]
• Sherpa: the leader's personal representative who negotiates the summit outcomes.

8. What BRICS Can Actually Decide, and What It Cannot

• BRICS has no charter, no secretariat and no voting rule — so every decision needs all members to agree
• This is called consensus (nothing is agreed unless no member objects).
• The note's own example shows what consensus can produce: a joint statement on disaster risk reduction [1]. A statement is not a binding rule.

• So when members disagree — for example on the Iran war — the group can only stay silent or use soft wording.

• Expansion made this harder, not easier

• BRICS now has 11 members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE [12].
• Every new member is one more country that can block a sentence in the declaration.

• Saudi Arabia and the UAE are close to the U.S.; Iran and Russia are under sanctions. One group, opposite interests.

• This is why the sceptic worry about Russia–China domination [3] needs care

• Under consensus, China cannot force a decision on India either. India has the same block power.
• The real risk is not India being outvoted. It is the group producing only words, while China shapes what those words say because it funds and drives most of the projects.

9. Why the Local Currency Plan Has Not Moved in Ten Years

• BRICS has talked about trading in members' own currencies since 2014, and it is still mostly talk [10]
• Most BRICS currencies are non-convertible (you cannot freely exchange them for other currencies at a market price) [10].
• If an Indian exporter is paid in a currency nobody else accepts, that money is stuck. It cannot be spent elsewhere.

• Central bank payment systems in several members are simply not ready to connect to each other [10].

• Even full success would be small

• If all trade inside BRICS were settled in members' own currencies, that would cover only 4.59% of world trade in 2025 [8].

• So the dollar's place is not threatened by this. The honest claim is smaller: fewer conversion costs for members, not a new world currency.

• Sanctions make the plumbing political

• Iran and Russia are under sanctions [10]. Any shared payment channel that includes them can be punished by Western regulators.

• Indian banks that use such a channel risk losing their dollar access. That is why Indian banks stay cautious even when the government is willing.

• Take-away for an answer: BRICS's financial project fails on currency and banking plumbing, not on political will. Write that, and you are ahead of the standard answer.

10. India's Own Red Line: Digital Rupee Yes, Dollar Exit No

• India supports linking payments, but refused a single BRICS-wide payment network at the Delhi Summit [9]
• India backs using CBDCs (central bank digital currency — official money issued in digital form) for cross-border payments between members [9].
• But it ruled out one common bloc network, because such a network would look like an attack on the dollar [9].

• The Commerce Minister's pitch was narrower: trade in local currencies and link existing payment systems like UPI, rather than build a rival system [11].

• Why India draws this line

• The U.S. President has threatened a 100% tariff on BRICS countries if the group moves ahead with de-dollarisation [10].

• The U.S. is a top market for Indian goods and services. A tariff of that size would hurt India far more than any payment saving from BRICS.

• What this tells you about "strategic autonomy"

• India is not balancing two sides equally. It takes BRICS's development agenda and refuses BRICS's anti-dollar agenda.
• Brazil did the same: it dropped the idea of a common BRICS currency while still wanting less dollar dependence [13].
• So the group is not one bloc with one aim. Naming this split is better than calling BRICS "anti-West".

11. The Strongest Case for Walking Away — and Why It Still Fails

• The strongest argument against India's membership, stated fairly
• India sat in the chair and hosted the Presidents of Iran, Russia and China weeks after a war India's own partners, the U.S. and Israel, had started [3].
• India gains little in money: it will not join de-dollarisation [9], and the payments plan is stuck anyway [10].

• So the critics' charge — that BRICS gives India "strategic noise" and costs it goodwill in Washington [3] — is not foolish. It has a real basis.

• What that argument gets right

• BRICS's outputs are mostly declarations. The note's own list of 2026 outcomes is meetings, forums and a joint statement [1][4][6].

• Hosting sanctioned leaders does carry a real cost with the U.S.

• Why India still stays

• Presence buys a veto. Inside BRICS, India can stop language it dislikes. Outside, China writes the Global South's agenda alone and India cannot edit a word.
• The bank is real money. The New Development Bank (NDB) is the first multilateral development bank set up by developing countries, and it lends for infrastructure [12].
• Exit is one-way. A country that leaves cannot rejoin on its old terms. Staying costs some U.S. goodwill; leaving costs a permanent seat.

12. What India Should Push While It Still Holds the Chair

• Finance Ministry and RBI: get the NDB to lend in rupees inside India
• Today NDB loans to Indian projects are mostly in foreign currency, so the borrower carries the exchange-rate risk — if the rupee weakens, repayment costs more.
• India has already asked NDB to start rupee financing in India [12].

• Fixing this helps Indian states and companies directly, and needs no member to agree to anything political.

• MEA: push more countries into the NDB, not more countries into BRICS

• The Rio Declaration supports expanding NDB membership and fast-tracking pending applications [12].

• More NDB shareholders means more paid-in capital, a better credit rating, and cheaper loans. More BRICS members only means more vetoes.

• Commerce Ministry: link payment systems one pair at a time, instead of one big network

• India's own position is to connect existing systems like UPI rather than build a bloc-wide network [9][11].

• Bilateral links can be switched off if one partner is sanctioned. A single shared network cannot.

• Carry the people-centric agenda into measurable outputs

• The 2026 theme is people-centric and humanity-first [1], and the chairship ran tracks on MSMEs, urbanisation and health [4][5][6].
• The test to apply next year: did any of these produce a funded NDB project, or only a joint statement? Use that question in your answer — it separates a serious answer from a listing one.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Even if all intra-BRICS trade were settled in members' own currencies, it would cover only 4.59% of world trade (2025) [8]
• Data: BRICS's 11 members hold about 49.5% of world population, 40% of world GDP and 26% of world trade [12]
• Data: India's 2026 chairship ran 350+ meetings across 25 cities [1]
• Institution: New Development Bank — first multilateral development bank created by developing countries; Rio Declaration backs expanding its membership [12]
• Comparison: Brazil rejected a common BRICS currency while still seeking less dollar dependence — the same limited position India takes [13]
• Policy line: India backs CBDCs for cross-border payments but ruled out a BRICS-wide payment network at the Delhi Summit [9]
• External pressure: U.S. threat of a 100% tariff on BRICS members if the group pursues de-dollarisation [10]
• Scheme: UPI — India's proposal is to link existing payment systems rather than build a rival one [11]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-II, International Relations: "Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests"; "Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests".
• Plausible question stems:
• "BRICS offers India space for strategic autonomy but risks Russia–China domination." Critically examine.
• Assess India's 2026 BRICS chairship as a test of balancing its Western partnerships with Global South leadership.
• Can BRICS multipolarise the global order despite its internal divisions? Discuss with reference to India's role.

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• Strategic autonomy and multi-alignment: the core framework for India's BRICS stance.
• Quad and India–U.S. ties: the counterweight to the BRICS-versus-West framing.
• SCO: another Eurasian grouping with Russia and China.
• West Asia policy and the Iran war: the context for the 2026 summit.
• New Development Bank and de-dollarisation debates: BRICS financial architecture.
• Global South diplomacy and G20: India's leadership platforms.
• India–China and India–Russia relations: the bilateral dynamics inside BRICS.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Chairship count: 2026 is India's fourth (2012, 2016, 2021, 2026), not its third. [1]
• Summit number: the 18th Summit is not the 17th, which was the 2025 Rio Summit. [1]
• Dates: 12–13 Sept 2026. The article's date (24 Sept) is not the summit date. [1][3]
• BRICS is not a treaty organisation. It has no charter or secretariat. This is not source-verified; check it.
• Iran war date: 28 Feb 2026, per the article. [3]