“You’ve added a number of members that don’t get along,” he said, describing the challenge for India as bringing together countries with “a wide array of views and positions on the global order”.
Trump has also been quite vocal against Brics, particularly its efforts to reduce global trade’s dependence on the US dollar, commonly known as de-dollarisation.
He has often warned the group against trying to come up with an alternative currency or take measures to weaken the dollar’s dominance in global trade.
In one such threat, Trump said in November 2024 that Brics countries would face “100% tariffs” if they backed another currency to replace the “mighty US dollar”.
Under these circumstances, what can the group realistically deliver?
Brics’ geopolitical and economic heft has grown substantially over the past decade. While it will be reluctant to take an openly anti-US or anti-Western position, the group will be looking to build on its existing achievements and demonstrate that it can emerge as an alternative blocs like the G20 and G7.
Brics now accounts for 49% of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP and 26% of international trade, according to BBC Monitoring’s analysis.
Its most tangible achievement remains the New Development Bank – which has approved billions of dollars in infrastructure and development projects – many of them in countries of the global south.
The group has also created a $100bn contingency reserve arrangement to help members facing financial crises, although it has yet to be tested.
The leaders are also likely to explore ways to make cross-border payments in local currencies easier. That will be of particular interest to Moscow and Tehran, both of which face severe US sanctions.
Brics is also expected to continue positioning itself as a voice for the developing nations, collectively pushing for reforms to institutions such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which many developing nations feel do not accurately reflect the new global order.
For India, in particular, the summit offers an opportunity to strengthen its claim to leadership of the global south.
Many of Delhi’s own foreign policy priorities, including multilateralism, a more multipolar world, greater representation for developing countries and freer global trade, align closely with Brics’ wider agenda.
But India will also have to find ways to work around China’s considerable influence within Brics and its stronger presence across much of the developing world.
The Modi government has placed a strong emphasis on becoming a “leader or a voice of the Global South”, Kugelman says. But India’s efforts have had “limited success” in making deeper inroads in Africa and Latin America, where China has been more successful.
With most Brics members coming from developing economies, Kugelman says the expanded grouping gives India an opportunity to deepen ties with countries such as Ethiopia, Brazil and Indonesia and build a stronger profile across Africa and Latin America.
