Brazil has formally handed over the BRICS presidency to India for 2026. India’s chairmanship is structured around four pillars - Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Environmental Stability / Sustainability.
Significance of India’s BRICS Presidency:
- Reform of Global Governance: India’s call to reform and not replace International Institutions to avoid Western dominance.
- Global South Leadership and support for multipolar world order: India as a bridge between Global South and West, to represent the concerns of Global South.
- Promotion of Digital public infrastructure: As a scalable development model for the Global South.
- Strategic Autonomy & Multi-alignment: India to balance engagement with Western-led groupings and China while preserving strategic autonomy.
About BRICS
- Genesis: British economist Jim O' Neill in 2001 coined the acronym 'BRIC' representing the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
- BRIC started functioning as a formal grouping on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006. The 1st BRIC Summit was held in Russia in 2009.
- BRIC became BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa in 2010.
- Aim: To reform global governance and provide alternatives to Western-dominated institutions (IMF, World Bank, UNSC).
- Chairmanship: Rotates annually among member countries.
- Three pillars of Cooperation of BRICS: Political and security; Economic and financial; and Cultural and people-to-people cooperation.
- Represents: Approximately 49.5 % of the global population, around 40% of the global GDP and around 26% of global trade.
- Members:
- Initial members (BRICS): Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.
- New members (BRICS+): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
