BRICS leaders gather in India, but does the group have a clear purpose?

In Delhi this weekend, the BRICS leaders will convene for their 18th summit, an event that carries a vague and low-key slogan: "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability." This phrase cleverly incorporates the names of the group's original five members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — while also reflecting goals that the newer members — Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates — can support.

While the BRICS acronym aims to represent a united front, India, as the host, is keen to keep the group neutral and avoid offending its key members, particularly Russia and China. India's desire for low-key neutrality is mirrored in the attendance of major players like Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are expected to attend. Meanwhile, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and the UAE's Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan are anticipated to send representatives.

The participation of these regional rivals is crucial for the BRICS' strength, as it could demonstrate the group's ability to foster cooperation among rivals. However, the summit is expected to yield minimal concrete outcomes, with experts like Mihaela Papa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predicting that the event will focus primarily on practical cooperation and global governance reform rather than overt bloc politics.

India's role in the BRICS is significant, not only for the bilateral meetings but also for the potential to bridge the group's internal contradictions. Despite India's non-aligned status and its preference for improving trade ties and avoiding confrontation with the West, the country's geopolitical influence could help keep the BRICS aligned on practical issues like trade, monetary cooperation, and agriculture.

However, many still remain skeptical about the group's ability to achieve major reforms, given its internal contradictions and the challenges posed by its members' diverse political systems and geopolitical interests.