In preparation for hosting the 18th BRICS summit in Delhi this weekend, India came up with a slogan which tried to keep the group's brand intact without alienating its many new members. "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" matches the acronym for the body's five original members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — whilst also denoting goals which the new members — Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — can get behind. "It's an elegant way to reinterpret BRICS so that the acronym represents a joint mission rather than country names," Mihaela Papa, director of the BRICS Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told DW.
For Sushant Singh, lecturer in South Asian Studies at Yale University, the vague slogan reflects India's desire as hosts to keep BRICS as low-key and neutral as possible. "India doesn't want to offend Russia or China, but the fact is that Indians are looking more towards the United States these days. The desire to build up BRICS is not there." Yet host India's status as a rising global geopolitical power has added clout to this year's gathering when compared with last year's summit in Brazil.
At the Rio de Janeiro gathering, six of the bloc's 11 heads of state skipped the event, including major players like Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is expected to attend, while Xi Jinping is widely expected but not yet formally confirmed by Beijing. "The participation of China's top leadership is crucial," says Papa.
She also thinks it would be a significant sign of the BRICS' strength as a "stabilizing force" if the leaders of regional rivals Iran and the UAE were shown to be able to work together. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will attend but UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is expected to send representatives. Saudi Arabia, another Iranian foe, is also expected to.
The country's BRICS status remains somewhat ambiguous, although current official BRICS materials generally list it as a member. For India, the summit is as significant for the bilateral meetings it brings as much as for the BRICS gathering itself. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are due to meet on Friday while the summit will also present an opportunity for Xi and Modi to speak face-to-face amid continued strain in the China-India relationship.
However, that does not mean much of substance will emerge from the weekend. "In terms of concrete outcomes and what is achievable, I think it's going to be very, very limited," says Singh. Modi has spoken of BRICS as an important forum for the 'Global South' to present a common front on various issues.
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