Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: India hosts the BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi, marking 20 years of the grouping. New Delhi balances BRICS ties with Quad cooperation, testing its strategic autonomy in a fragmenting world.
The BRICS summit opened in New Delhi on Friday. It marks 20 years since the grouping’s founding. India enters this summit without exclusive alignment to any bloc. Strategic autonomy remains central to its approach. The gathering offers a lens into India’s broader foreign policy.
India Uses BRICS Without Joining A Power Bloc
BRICS is not a formal military alliance. Members hold differing strategic priorities within it. China and Russia see BRICS as challenging Western institutional dominance. India and Brazil instead treat it as a reform platform. This internal diversity shapes how the grouping functions. India engages selectively, pursuing its own governance-reform interests.
China And Russia Bring Different Priorities
Russia and China have pushed de-dollarisation within BRICS discussions. Yet both countries continue engaging the United States regardless. India has not mirrored their de-dollarisation push identically. Border security remains a significant India-China friction point. India has also approached Chinese-backed BRICS expansion cautiously. Cooperation inside BRICS coexists with competition elsewhere.
BRICS And Quad Show India’s Multi-Alignment
India simultaneously deepens defence and technology cooperation. This includes the United States, Japan and Australia through Quad. Neither BRICS nor Quad functions as a military alliance. Their coexistence illustrates India’s overlapping partnership model. A fully aligned India would lose this manoeuvring room.
West Asia Tests India’s Strategic Autonomy
The ongoing West Asia conflict highlighted this flexibility clearly. India maintains relationships across regionally suspicious parties. It holds longstanding socio-cultural and trade ties with Iran. It maintains defence cooperation with Israel separately. India’s strategic partnership with the UAE includes energy security. It also includes a free trade agreement and large diaspora links. India has resisted treating these ties as mutually exclusive.
Non-Alignment Evolves For A Multipolar Era
Classical Cold War non-alignment fits poorly today. The current system is fragmented and genuinely multipolar. India now operates across overlapping, sometimes contradictory groupings. Strategic autonomy better captures this contemporary approach. India has also diversified partnerships beyond obvious players. Recent agreements with Belgium and Uzbekistan reflect that expansion.
Limits Of India’s Approach
Strategic autonomy is not cost-free or automatically successful. India-China tensions constrain deeper BRICS alignment. Geopolitical crises can pressure India toward clearer positions. Economic dependencies and border disputes limit some choices. Consensus within a diverse BRICS grows harder with expansion. These constraints temper what flexibility alone can achieve.
A Test Of Influence Without Exclusive Alignment
The New Delhi summit tests India’s ability to shape BRICS from within. It does so while preserving Quad cooperation and West Asia ties. The broader story is India seeking influence without exclusive alignment, navigating a multipolar order still taking shape.
