A Platform for a Multipolar World
First and foremost, India views BRICS as a vital instrument for shaping a multipolar world order. The group, now expanded to include nations like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, serves as a collective voice for the Global South, advocating for reforms
in global institutions like the UN, IMF, and World Bank. This allows India to champion the interests of developing economies and enhance its own global standing. It provides a crucial forum for engaging with major powers, including China, within a structured, institutional setting. This diplomatic balancing act is central to India’s foreign policy of maintaining strategic autonomy—engaging with all sides without being locked into any single alliance.
Boosting Trade and Managing Deficits
On the economic front, the expanded BRICS bloc represents a massive market. India's trade with BRICS partners stood at approximately $335 billion in 2023-24, a significant increase from years past. However, this relationship is not without its challenges. India currently runs a substantial trade deficit with the bloc, importing far more than it exports, particularly from China and Russia. A key priority for India is therefore to boost its exports and create more balanced trade relationships. The government is pushing for greater discussions within BRICS on reducing non-tariff barriers and simplifying trade procedures to help Indian goods and services gain better market access.
Financing India’s Infrastructure Boom
A major tangible benefit of BRICS membership is the New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB serves as a critical alternative to Western-dominated financial institutions for funding infrastructure and sustainable development projects. India has been a significant beneficiary, with the NDB approving billions in loans for projects like the metro systems in Chennai and Mumbai, the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut transit system, and various highway, renewable energy, and water projects. This financing helps accelerate India's domestic development goals, from improving urban mobility to expanding its clean energy capacity, directly contributing to economic growth and modernization.
Leading in Technology and Digital Innovation
India is positioning itself as a leader in technology and digital innovation within the bloc. It actively promotes its own Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as a low-cost, scalable model for other developing nations to follow. This technological diplomacy boosts India’s soft power and creates opportunities for Indian fintech companies. The BRICS agenda, under India’s influence, increasingly focuses on cooperation in artificial intelligence, digital economy frameworks, and creating secure digital ecosystems. The goal is to ensure that emerging economies can harness new technologies for inclusive growth and are not left behind in the fourth industrial revolution.
Forging New Payment Pathways
Perhaps one of the most talked-about priorities is the creation of alternative payment systems to reduce dependence on the US dollar and the SWIFT network. India is a strong proponent of increasing the use of national currencies for trade settlement. Initiatives like BRICS Pay aim to connect the domestic payment systems of member countries, such as linking India's UPI with Russia's Faster Payments System. This would make cross-border transactions faster, cheaper, and more resilient to geopolitical shocks. Rather than creating a single BRICS currency, India's approach is to build interoperable bridges between existing national digital currencies and payment platforms, a pragmatic step toward greater financial sovereignty.
