No fire & brimstone: Delhi pushes back against making BRICS a geopolitical bloc

The 140-paragraph declaration from the Delhi BRICS Summit reveals India's strategic approach to the 20-year forum amidst geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. Delhi's diplomatic success revolves around maintaining the forum's focus, steering clear of the rhetorical excess that often accompanies its gatherings. The declaration emphasizes the political diversity within BRICS, dispelling the notion of a unified critique against the West.

While criticizing unilateral sanctions and protectionism, the document refrains from turning BRICS into a collective political front against the United States or the West. Its primary achievement is to highlight the need for practical cooperation among major nations in a fragmented world. The summit's focus shifts towards supply chains, health, food security, climate adaptation, digital systems, small enterprises, and development finance.

Importantly, India refrains from pushing for a common BRICS currency, instead opting for a more modest goal of enhancing cross-border payments efficiency. The declaration acknowledges the limitations of a "one-size-fits-all" approach and preserves each member's right to mitigate financial vulnerabilities without committing the group to monetary separation from the West.

India's digital agenda, focusing on inclusive and resilient digital systems, brings its expertise in large-scale payments platforms and public digital infrastructure into the BRICS conversation. While the declaration's broad scope reflects BRICS' ambition, it also highlights the group's institutional weaknesses, as it covers an extensive array of global issues.

However, this breadth serves to prevent BRICS from becoming an ideological bloc, allowing for the expression of grievances, articulation of concerns, and global reform efforts. Despite not resolving internal conflicts or ending member competition, BRICS has managed to avoid imposing an ideological straitjacket, thus preserving the world from worsening conditions.

The upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, the US peace initiative in Ukraine, and the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran in the Middle East will provide further insights into the evolving dynamics within and beyond BRICS.