The 18th BRICS Summit comes when wars, disrupted energy supplies and soaring costs are fragmenting the world order. At the same time, the grouping has expanded, and the diversity of its participants and interests gives the summit a special significance. For instance, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which became full members more than two years ago, are embroiled in competition and conflict, and have divergent interests. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China are both participating. India, whose foreign policy has long rested on the idea that strategic autonomy is best preserved by maintaining relationships across the spectrum, has a strong interest in making such a forum work. Delhi knows that there is great value in keeping difficult conversations alive.

For Delhi, the summit is a test of whether it can advance its own and the forum’s interests — through more resilient supply chains and greater use of national currencies in trade. These can give countries greater room to navigate a global financial system that is still disoriented and unsettled by the weaponisation of tariffs, over the last year and a half, by US President Donald Trump. Greater economic exchange within the bloc, or more broadly, within the Global South, however, does not make BRICS an anti-Western alliance. It reflects a desire among its members to trade freely, secure supplies from multiple sources and push for reform of global institutions.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already met President Putin in a bilateral focused on boosting trade, defence, energy and critical minerals. The highlight of the summit is bound to be the meeting between Modi and Xi, in what will be the Chinese president’s first visit to India since the Galwan clashes and the escalation of border tensions. While the two countries are rebuilding ties and Chinese investment has begun to return to India, the relationship remains fraught. India aims to reduce its economic dependence on China even as Chinese imports are deeply embedded in its manufacturing supply chains. Xi’s presence in Delhi offers an opportunity to broaden cooperation and temper the edges of the competition. That is also the larger promise of BRICS. India’s strategy should be to make it a more useful forum rather than just a bloc that ranges itself against the West, focusing on practical collaboration and strengthening its credibility as a voice of the Global South. A successful summit will be one that leaves India with more room for manoeuvre, fewer vulnerabilities and more channels through which a conversation can be sustained between countries that agree with each other, and also disagree.