"India Chairs BRICS 2026 Summit, Seeks Multipolar Global Order"
Strategic Autonomy
India's foreign policy doctrine of engaging multiple power centres without exclusive alignment to any single bloc.
New Development Bank (NDB)
BRICS-established multilateral development bank headquartered in Shanghai, capitalised at $100 billion in 2014.
BRICS began as an investment concept coined by a Goldman Sachs economist in 2001, grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as fast-growing emerging economies. The original four-nation grouping (BRIC) held its first formal Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010 as the last of the original five members. A landmark institutional moment came at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2014, which produced the Fortaleza Declaration and established two major institutions: the New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai and capitalised at $100 billion, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), also capitalised at $100 billion. Both were designed as alternatives to Western-dominated institutions like the World Bank and IMF. The NDB has approved roughly $40 billion over a decade, compared to the World Bank's $81 billion in a single fiscal year, and no member has drawn on the CRA, illustrating the gap between BRICS ambition and institutional delivery.
The grouping underwent its largest expansion in 2024, adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE as full members, bringing total membership to eleven. A further ten nations hold partner status. The 16th BRICS Summit was held under Russia's chairship in Kazan, with the theme 'Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security'. The expanded BRICS now represents roughly half the world's population, about 40 per cent of global GDP, and over a quarter of global trade. India's engagement with BRICS sits within its broader doctrine of strategic autonomy, the principle of maintaining independent foreign policy positions and participating in multiple overlapping groupings without binding itself exclusively to any single bloc. This explains India's simultaneous membership of BRICS, the Quad, the G20, and the SCO. India's claim to Global South leadership also traces back to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), founded in 1961, and BRICS now serves a similar representational function for developing nations.
BRICS operates by consensus, which is both its strength and its weakness. With eleven members now spanning active conflict zones, energy exporters, and economies at very different development stages, reaching consensus is increasingly difficult. China's economic dominance is the defining structural fact within the grouping. China's GDP now exceeds double the combined GDP of the other four founding members, and an average Chinese citizen is roughly five times richer than an average Indian today, compared to three times in 2006. This asymmetry shapes every negotiation within BRICS. China has also moved beyond passive trade advantage to active economic coercion, withholding rare earths, tunnel boring machines, and power substations to establish leverage over import-dependent partners. India's bilateral trade deficit with China now exceeds $112 billion, concentrated in components and machinery, making this a strategic vulnerability, not merely a commercial imbalance.
The BRICS reform agenda, articulated since the Fortaleza Declaration, centres on restructuring the post-1945 multilateral order. This includes reform of the UN Security Council, the IMF, and the World Bank, institutions where voting power and veto rights remain skewed toward developed economies. …
Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS:
I.16th BRICS Summit was held under the Chairship of Russia in Kazan.
II.Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS.
III.The theme of the 16th BRICS Summit was 'Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security'.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider the following statements:
1.The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.
2.South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The 'Fortaleza Declaration', recently in the news, is related to the affairs of
How will I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE and USA) grouping transform India's position in global politics?
Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS:
1.The New Development Bank (NDB) is headquartered in Shanghai.
2.Indonesia became a full member of BRICS at the 16th Summit held in Kazan.
3.India holds the BRICS Chairship for 2026 under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
4.The first BRIC Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Match the following BRICS-related declarations/institutions with their correct descriptions:
List I (Declaration/Institution) — List II (Description)
A.Fortaleza Declaration — 1. Announced establishment of NDB and Contingent Reserve Arrangement
B.New Development Bank — 2. Headquartered in Shanghai; established in 2014
C.Kazan Summit — 3. 16th BRICS Summit; Indonesia joined as full member
D.BRICS Chairship 2026 — 4. Held by India under theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'
Select the correct answer:
Consider the following statements about the New Development Bank (NDB):
1.It was established in 2014 at the BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.
2.Its headquarters is located in Beijing, China.
3.It was created as an alternative to Western-dominated multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and IMF.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to India's BRICS Chairship 2026, consider the following statements:
1.India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
2.India has proposed a BRICS common currency to replace the US dollar in intra-BRICS trade.
3.India has proposed a payment interoperability protocol linking domestic fast-payment systems, building on UPI's existing international presence.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following best describes the concept of 'strategic autonomy' as applied to India's foreign policy in the context of its simultaneous membership of BRICS, the Quad, the SCO, and I2U2?
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