Internal splits threaten to slow Brics’ progress as bloc looks back on 20 years of growth

Leaders from some of the world's largest emerging economies gathered in New Delhi to mark the 20th anniversary of Brics, a fast-growing group of developing nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian were among those present. Despite some achievements, such as the New Development Bank, Brics faces serious challenges due to internal splits on issues like handling the United States and a perceived "bottleneck" impeding its development.

The group, which was founded in 2006 and expanded to include South Africa in 2010, now consists of 11 members. While Brics has established a new multilateral paradigm and expanded its scope to include issues like counterterrorism and artificial intelligence, internal divisions have slowed its progress. Jiang Shixue, a distinguished professor at Hangzhou Normal University, noted that the 11 members cannot speak with one voice on many issues, and that the biggest challenge is the lack of consensus among members on the direction of development, especially due to the strategic competition between China and the United States.

Lin Minwang, vice-dean at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, highlighted financial collaborations such as the New Development Bank as some of Brics' main achievements. However, despite its push to reduce the US dollar's dominance by settling more transactions in local currencies, these only account for around 20% of intraregional deals.