When India took over the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Chairmanship on January 1, 2026, it inherited a grouping that had transformed since its first decade. The original five members had expanded to eleven, and a partner-country framework had created opportunities for a broader circle of emerging economies. Indonesia officially joined as a full member in January 2025, while nations such as Uzbekistan entered this new partner framework.
India's Chairmanship, centered on the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability,” arrives at a pivotal moment in this evolution. The 18th BRICS Summit, currently taking place in New Delhi on 12–13 September, marks the first summit India has hosted since the group's expansion. This occasion presents not only a chance to convene an enlarged BRICS but also an opportunity to establish a more effective working rhythm within the expanded group and to clarify what can be achieved collaboratively.
India has embarked on an unusually comprehensive engagement program. Throughout the year, BRICS Sherpas have convened, leading to discussions at the ministerial and senior official levels across various key areas, including foreign affairs, trade, agriculture, health, and counter-terrorism. Over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have taken place across more than 25 cities in India. This extensive approach matters because it broadens the BRICS agenda beyond the leaders' summit, fostering sustained cooperation across departments, institutions, and professional communities.
This is also where the theme of resilience takes on practical significance. For developing economies, resilience is not merely an abstract strategic concept; it relates directly to food and energy availability, supply chain reliability, access to finance and technology, and the capacity of businesses and governments to endure external disruptions. These aspects show where countries with vastly different political perspectives can still find substantial common ground.
Agriculture is a significant focus area. Under India's chairmanship, the BRICS agricultural track has emphasized key issues such as food security, agricultural trade, climate-resilient farming, sustainable agriculture, innovation, and investment. This collaboration directly impacts development, especially as climate pressures and food-market fluctuations affect nations across the Global South.
The same principle applies to technology. India's experience with digital public infrastructure during its G20 Presidency showed that digitalization can catalyze development, not merely serve as a technological pursuit. Within BRICS, India has consistently emphasized innovation, digital cooperation, and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. The focus has shifted from enforcing a single model to facilitating experience exchange, nurturing compatible approaches where advantageous, and broadening access to technologies that enhance economic participation and public services. India's G20 experience is significant in another way. The 2023 Presidency compelled India to navigate substantial differences among participating countries while keeping development concerns central to the agenda. The inclusion of the African Union exemplified efforts to make global economic discussions more representative. The takeaway for BRICS is not that the two groupings must adopt identical models, but rather that a successful chairmanship can leverage its convening role to identify areas where political diversity does not hinder practical cooperation.
BRICS's expansion highlights the importance of this approach. The eleven member countries feature diverse economic structures, strategic alliances, and national priorities. What matters is the ability to build sufficient convergence in areas where cooperation can yield substantial benefits. Opportunities for collaboration abound in trade facilitation, development finance, food and energy security, health, climate adaptation, infrastructure, and science and technology. The partner-country mechanism extends this rationale beyond the eleven members. Its impact will largely depend on how effectively partners are integrated into BRICS' substantive initiatives, rather than merely being linked to its high-profile events. Engaging in sectoral, business, parliamentary, cultural, and other initiatives can enrich the overall BRICS framework while allowing partner countries to contribute in ways that align with their interests and capacities. For India, this is a chance to deepen the expanded grouping's institutional architecture. The goal is not to create uniformity among countries with differing circumstances, but to establish enough common ground for cooperation to become routine rather than occasional.
Development finance plays a crucial role in this context. Many emerging and developing economies face substantial infrastructure needs while grappling with high financing costs and constrained fiscal space. The New Development Bank is a key channel through which the BRICS framework can help address infrastructure and sustainable development priorities. The broader question is how these institutions and national financing mechanisms can collaborate more efficiently to meet the scale of demand. Trade represents another significant area of focus. The collective economic strength of BRICS offers substantial potential for enhanced commercial interaction; however, economic weight alone cannot eliminate the frictions that hinder trade. Areas such as customs procedures, standards, logistics, digital commerce, and payment arrangements are where even minor improvements can yield considerable benefits. Advancements in these domains would strengthen the economic rationale for an expanded BRICS.
Trade presents a significant opportunity for practical collaboration among BRICS nations. While BRICS' economic weight creates potential for increased commercial interaction, size alone does not eliminate the frictions that hinder trade. Incremental improvements in customs procedures, standards, logistics, digital commerce, and payment arrangements can yield substantial gains. Progress in these areas would enhance the economic rationale for an expanded BRICS.
Energy and climate cooperation also offer valuable prospects. The BRICS membership includes major energy producers and consumers, as well as countries at various stages of the energy transition. While their circumstances vary, there is ample room for collaboration on renewable energy, efficiency, technology, and resilient infrastructure. This cooperation can link energy security with development rather than treating them as separate agendas. Furthermore, the expansion of BRICS should be viewed as more than just an increase in membership. India is poised to organize this diversity into sustained areas of cooperation, leveraging its significant economic scale, technological capabilities, experience in digital public infrastructure, and extensive relationships across the developing world. This broad foundation allows India to convene partners effectively.
For the broader Global South, this matters because demand is shifting toward greater agency within the international system, rather than merely advocating for increased representation in its discourse. BRICS can play a pivotal role by establishing additional channels for development finance, technology cooperation, trade, and policy coordination, while collaborating with established multilateral institutions. India’s chairmanship in 2026 coincides with a crucial moment for the expanded BRICS to transform its increased reach into greater institutional coherence. Hosting the first Summit in India since the expansion offers a unique opportunity to set this course—not by pursuing uniformity, but by showing how a diverse group can organize practical cooperation around shared interests.
For India and Uzbekistan, this partnership represents a pivotal opportunity to integrate India’s expertise in technology, digital public infrastructure, and investment with Uzbekistan’s key priorities in connectivity, energy, agriculture, and industrial development. This collaboration could strengthen economic relations between India and Central Asia, enriching the partner-country dimension of the expanding BRICS framework.
By Prof. Arindam Banik
ICCR Chair of Indian Studies at Samarkand State University
