The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi will be judged by whether its promises survive the return of leaders to their capitals. For India, the summit was an opportunity to shape an increasingly consequential forum at a moment when the global economy is being fragmented by tariffs, sanctions, geopolitical conflict and competing technology standards. For the Global South, it was another test of whether BRICS can become more than a platform for dissatisfaction with the existing international order.

The scale of the grouping is difficult to ignore. BRICS now comprises 11 countries i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and UAE, representing about 49.5 per cent of the world’s population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade, according to Indian government data. Its enlarged membership spans Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. But size alone does not create influence. The central question after Delhi is whether such diversity can become practical cooperation. India’s presidency attempted to move BRICS in that direction. More than 350 meetings and high-level engagements were held across 25 Indian cities during the year. The New Delhi Declaration placed resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability at the centre of the agenda, while supporting work on health, food and energy security, artificial intelligence, climate action, industrial cooperation and financial resilience.

Such an agenda is relevant to developing countries, where shocks often mean higher food bills, expensive energy, disrupted supply chains or reduced access to capital. For India, the immediate gain may be diplomatic. New Delhi has long pursued strategic autonomy, working with the United States, Europe and Japan while retaining substantial relationships with Russia and engaging China despite bilateral tensions. BRICS provides another room in which India can speak simultaneously to several parts of the developing world. The diverse membership widens India’s diplomatic reach.

This matters because many developing economies are........

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