BRICS or Bust? Why India Must Rethink Its Role in the Bloc
The 2025 BRICS Summit wrapped up in Rio de Janeiro last weekend with the usual fanfare and an exhausting 47-page, 126-paragraph declaration on all things global. For most people outside of diplomatic circles and think tanks, the sheer length and jargon-heavy content — full of phrases like “multipolar world”, “Global South”, “inclusive growth”, and “reformed global governance” — makes it all but unreadable.
Still, BRICS continues to draw both admiration and anxiety. Supporters hail it as a rising force to challenge Western dominance and reshape the global order. Critics, especially in the West, view it as a platform aimed squarely at undermining American influence. Unsurprisingly, U.S. President Donald Trump slammed the group yet again, branding it “anti-American” and threatening to hit its members with fresh tariffs — a 10% penalty for siding against U.S. interests.
But beyond the bluster and headlines, it’s time for India to seriously ask: Is BRICS still worth it?
Despite the lofty goals and grand language, BRICS remains riddled with contradictions. While it speaks of unity and reform, its members are often pulling in opposite directions. Ironically, the one leader who’s done the most to disrupt the existing world order isn’t in BRICS — it’s Trump. In just six months, he’s dismantled many of the foundational ideas that shaped U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
Take, for instance, the BRICS call to reform the Bretton Woods institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Trump is already doing that — not by working with BRICS, but by pushing his own agenda inside these institutions. While BRICS claims to defend the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trump is aggressively undermining it. And instead of a united BRICS front defending global trade rules, member nations are busy cutting their own separate deals with Washington. China has already signed a limited agreement. Vietnam, though not a BRICS member, has followed suit. India, too, has been in intense talks with the U.S., hoping to finalize a bilateral deal soon.
The idea that BRICS countries can shelve their rivalries and act as a united bloc against U.S. power is more fantasy than fact. For India, China is a much bigger strategic and economic concern than America. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two new BRICS members, share deep suspicions of another member, Iran, over its nuclear ambitions — aligning more with the U.S. and Israel than with Tehran.
Meanwhile, the latest BRICS declaration offered no concrete response to the chaos Trump is creating on the world stage — just vague platitudes and recycled slogans.
India, one of the original architects of BRICS, has invested heavily — politically and diplomatically — in this forum over the past three decades. But the global landscape has changed. The motivations that once made BRICS attractive to India no longer hold. With India now preparing to take over the BRICS chair, this is the moment to pause and ask tough questions.
Is India truly benefiting from BRICS, or just clinging to outdated ideals in an increasingly fragmented world?
