A bigger BRICS, shaped by India’s vision, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• The BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026, is significant amidst global geopolitical turbulence.
• The expanded BRICS now comprises 11 prominent members and approximately 10 partner countries.
• Its collective economic output, measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), now exceeds that of the G-7 nations.
• India has focused its summit agenda on "building resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability."
• India conducted around 350 preparatory meetings, including 22 at the ministerial level, across various cities.

Detailed Insights:

• The summit takes place against a backdrop of ongoing conflicts, a decline in global governance, and evolving international alliances.
• India's approach to the BRICS summit mirrors its successful hosting of the G-20 Summit in 2023.
• The Indian agenda primarily emphasizes the finance/economy and culture/people-to-people pillars of BRICS.
• Resilience initiatives include the BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage and the BRICS Logistics Supply Chain Cooperation Framework.
• Innovation proposals feature a start-up innovation fund, an incubator network, and a digital public infrastructure repository.
• Cooperation efforts aim to revitalize the multilateral trading system and establish a BRICS urbanisation forum.
• Sustainability initiatives focus on combating desertification, disaster management, and the BRICS forum on sustainable aviation fuels.
• The overarching goal of India's agenda is to create a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing, joint research, and capacity building.
• BRICS aims to enhance strategic options for its members and contribute to a truly multipolar global order.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): A metric comparing economic productivity and living standards between countries by adjusting for differences in local prices.
• Multipolar World: An international system where power is distributed among multiple major states or blocs, rather than being concentrated in one or two.
• Global Governance: The sum of laws, norms, policies, and institutions that define, mediate, and promote relations between states, markets, and citizens.
• Strategic Options: The range of choices available to a nation in its foreign policy and security decisions to advance its national interests.