A Bloc at a Crossroads
When the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa gathered in Johannesburg, they faced a world in flux. The summit was the first to be held in-person since the pandemic, set against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and a growing desire
among Global South nations to reshape the international order. The theme was “BRICS and Africa,” but the unofficial agenda was far broader: to redefine the group's role in a world increasingly seen as multipolar. Russian President Vladimir Putin's virtual attendance, due to an ICC arrest warrant, served as a stark reminder of the geopolitical tensions framing the discussions. Every member came to the table with a unique set of goals, turning the summit into a delicate balancing act.
The Expansion Dilemma
The most contentious issue was expansion. China, the bloc's economic heavyweight, championed a rapid enlargement to build a broader coalition to counter the influence of the G7. This push was strongly supported by Russia, which sought to demonstrate it was not isolated on the world stage. However, India and Brazil were more cautious. India, wary of the group becoming too China-centric, pushed for establishing clear criteria and procedures for new members. New Delhi's stance was not to block expansion entirely, but to manage it in a way that didn't dilute its own influence or shift the group into a purely anti-Western camp. The final compromise was a testament to this diplomatic friction: six new countries (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) were invited, but only after consensus was reached on the guiding principles for admission that India had advocated for.
De-Dollarisation: A Shared Goal with Different Speeds
Another major talking point was the push for “de-dollarisation”—reducing dependence on the US dollar in international trade. This goal is a long-standing ambition for BRICS, but members approached it with varying degrees of urgency. For Russia, reeling from Western sanctions, and China, locked in strategic competition with the US, the matter was immediate. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was also a vocal proponent. However, the final declaration was more cautious than some had hoped. It tasked finance ministers and central bank governors with considering the issue of local currencies and payment platforms, rather than announcing a new common currency. This reflected the more moderate stance of members like India and host South Africa, who are wary of confronting the dollar-based system too directly, and acknowledged the practical difficulties of such a monumental shift.
India's Strategic Balancing Act
For India, the Johannesburg summit was an exercise in safeguarding its strategic autonomy. While sharing the bloc's desire for a more representative global order, including reform of the UN Security Council, New Delhi worked to ensure BRICS did not become a tool for any single member's geopolitical agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that India fully supported the expansion was strategic; by helping shape the criteria, India could welcome new members like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with whom it shares strong bilateral ties, thereby balancing China's influence. This move aligned with India's broader foreign policy of being a “leading power” in a multipolar world, engaging with diverse partners across different groupings, from BRICS to the Quad. The summit's outcome allowed India to champion the cause of the Global South while preventing the bloc from taking a hard anti-Western turn.
