Not a bloc, not anti-West: What India's BRICS hosting really signals

India enjoys the status of an invitee to G7 summits, but when it comes to BRICS, India functions as a host. In club parlance, this is the difference between being a full member with all rights versus a guest member with limited rights. India is more than just a full member of BRICS - it is its founding member.

Since the first summit in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, India has been a constant in BRICS' journey. Neither the financial crisis of 2008 nor the formation of G20, of which the original BRICS members are a part, or existence of G7 have been able to subsume BRICS. Far from stuttering, BRICS has undergone unprecedented expansion in 2024 to 11 members and 10 partner countries. The upcoming summit will be the first in the expanded format, including also outreach invitees and heads of international organisations, to be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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BRICS' activities have proliferated to 34 ministerial and heads of agencies tracks and about 100 other mechanisms. BRICS cooperation today spans not just political, security, economic and financial issues, but also developmental, livelihood, societal, cultural and more.

India has pulled out the stops under its chairmanship, organising more than 350 meetings across the country, including of foreign ministers, national security advisers, other ministers, sherpas and head of agencies, working groups and P2P and B2B engagements. Its rechristening of BRICS to give it a thematic rather than a geographical identity is a well thought through decision. The chosen theme, 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', draws inspiration from the vision of 'humanity first' and a 'people-centric' approach for BRICS cooperation.

BRICS is tethered neither by religion nor ideology. It is cross-continental and includes a wide range of economies. What, then, explains its resilience and more? Those in the West who view it with suspicion, a threat or scoff at it need to introspect. The continuation of BRICS cannot be explained merely by a diplomatic sleight of hand of its founding fathers. It reflects the stirrings of the non-western world, which regards diversity and pluralism as existential realities of humankind.

In the 17 years since 2009, India's economic and technological integration with the West has grown visibly. This trend is going to continue. India therefore is on the side of those who do not see and do not want to see BRICS as an anti-western grouping. In fact, the summit takes place at a time when the western alliance is itself fraying, and a Trump-led US is actively engaged with Russia and China - with the former to help extricate it from a war, and with the latter to define rules of the road to manage major power competition. Trump has been vocal about inviting Russia back into the G7. Several BRICS members have interdependencies with western economies. They equally see advantages of cooperation within BRICS in areas of development cooperation, energy and capacity building.

India has not wilted under Trump's threats, amplified by his cabinet colleagues, to impose a 100% tariff on BRICS nations if they undercut the dollar, which he further modified to a 10% additional tariff on any country aligning with BRICS, vowing also to break up the grouping. India has not championed the idea of an alternative international currency to the dollar, but this does not mean that its weaponisation is not pushing countries to hedge and protect themselves in the future.

At the summit, Delhi will once again be on the global stage. By hosting a diverse set of world leaders, it will showcase its convening power and acceptability across ideological and political divides. This is more consequential than mediation - it is powerplay, the India way. The India of BRICS 2026 is very different from the India of BRIC 2009. In all meetings leading up to the Delhi summit, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia have participated. At the May 2026 foreign ministers meeting, India managed to hammer out a consensus on all but one issue relating to West Asia. It was only due to this that it had to take recourse to a chair's statement and outcome document rather than a joint communique.

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BRICS may not have the teeth to find a solution to the Iran war, or the Ukraine conflict, but it voices the views of the Global South. It also provides an opportunity for difficult conversations to take place. The India-China thaw owes its origins to the Modi-Xi meeting at the BRICS summit in Kazan in 2024. It is set to provide an opportunity for another Modi-Xi meeting for the first time in seven years on Indian soil. This would be Xi's fourth visit to India. Contrast this to just one visit by him to Pakistan 11 years ago. Similarly, the Delhi summit could see the presence of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time since the US bombings began.

In a world of relatively more distributed power, India is uniquely placed to ensure that we do not return to the era of camps and blocs as much as we do not stumble from one form of global hegemony to another.

(The writer is former deputy national security adviser)