A Larger, More Diverse Club
What began as a forum for four major emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—has transformed. With the addition of South Africa in 2010, and a major expansion in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, the bloc
has significantly grown in demographic and geographic scope. This new BRICS represents nearly half the world's population and over a third of global GDP. The inclusion of major energy producers like the UAE and Iran alongside major energy importers adds economic weight but also introduces complex new dynamics. This expansion was a deliberate move to amplify the voice of the Global South and create a more representative counterweight to Western-led institutions like the G7.
The Widening Cracks in Unity
More members means more interests to balance, and achieving the consensus BRICS requires for any decision has become increasingly challenging. The original group already had to manage the significant strategic rivalry and border disputes between India and China. Now, the bloc must also navigate the historically tense relationship between new members Iran and the UAE. Furthermore, members have divergent foreign policies. While Russia and China often frame the group in anti-Western terms, India and Brazil have historically pursued a more neutral stance, balancing their BRICS membership with strong ties to the United States and Europe. New members like Egypt and the UAE also maintain close security and economic partnerships with the West, creating a clear split within the group on how aggressively to challenge the existing global order. These divisions have already surfaced in debates over issues like UN Security Council reform, where members could not form an agreement.
India's Delicate Balancing Act
For India, which holds the BRICS presidency in 2026, this new landscape presents both opportunities and risks. As a founding member and the world's fastest-growing major economy, India plays a pivotal role. It champions the BRICS platform as a means to advocate for a multipolar world order and reform global governance. However, Delhi is wary of the bloc becoming dominated by China or adopting a starkly anti-Western posture. India's strategy is to act as a bridge-builder, leveraging its credibility with both Western nations and the Global South. It has pushed for practical cooperation on initiatives like digital payments, where India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) serves as a model, and has focused on shared priorities like green energy and sustainable development. Navigating the expanded group requires India to carefully protect its own strategic autonomy while steering the bloc towards an inclusive agenda that doesn't force members to choose sides in a new global confrontation.
Why Agreement Matters More Now
Despite the internal fractures, the very purpose of BRICS—to reshape the global financial and political architecture—makes finding common ground more critical than ever. The group's core objectives include reducing reliance on the US dollar for international trade (de-dollarization), and creating alternatives to the IMF and World Bank. The New Development Bank (NDB), the bloc's financial arm, is already funding infrastructure projects in member countries using local currencies. Initiatives like BRICS Pay, a proposed cross-border payment system, aim to create financial infrastructure independent of the Western-controlled SWIFT system. For these ambitious projects to succeed and offer a genuine alternative for developing nations, the BRICS members must act in concert. A unified bloc can exert far greater pressure for reforms in global institutions and collectively bargain for the interests of the Global South on issues from climate finance to debt relief. Without consensus, these efforts risk remaining symbolic rather than transformative.
