BRICS Leaders Meet in New Delhi as Bloc Weighs Growth and Internal Rifts

Leaders of the BRICS grouping will meet in New Delhi on Saturday for their annual summit, as geopolitical tensions and disruptions across energy markets, shipping and global trade shape the agenda.

From Acronym to Alliance

The term BRIC was coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill in a research paper on the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The four countries only came together as a bloc in 2009, and South Africa's entry in 2011 produced the BRICS format familiar today.

The grouping widened further in 2024 with the admission of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, followed by Indonesia in 2025. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join but has not formally accepted.

Shared Goals, Growing Weight

BRICS was established to challenge a world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies. Its members together represent more than 40% of the world's population and close to a quarter of the global economy.

The bloc now works across political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges, according to the website set up by India for its presidency this year. Members meet annually, with the chair rotating among them.

What It Has Built

Its most prominent achievement is the New Development Bank, set up in 2015 to finance infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging markets. The bank has approved 139 projects worth nearly $43 billion, though it suspended new transactions in Russia after sanctions were imposed.

A BRICS Pay System is also being developed to link members' fast payment networks so cross-border settlements can take place without relying on dollar-based banks. Members are exploring connections between their central bank digital currencies and increasingly settling trade in national currencies as alternatives to dollar-based systems.

Fault Lines Within

Disagreements over the bloc's core purpose and divergent national interests pose persistent challenges. Russia and China view BRICS as a counterweight to the West, while India and Brazil see it as primarily an economic and reform-oriented platform.

The 2024 expansion has complicated the group's consensus-driven approach, with differing foreign policy priorities making agreement harder. That difficulty is likely to be tested this week as India works to secure a joint statement by bridging differences between Tehran and Washington's ally Abu Dhabi, which sit on opposing sides of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Their differences blocked a joint statement at the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi in May.

Outside Pressure

Most Western nations remain cautious about the grouping, seeing it as a platform that could gradually shift the geopolitical balance. The bloc has repeatedly clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called it "anti-American" and threatened tariffs on members if they create a new BRICS currency or back any replacement for the U.S. dollar. Brazil raised the idea of a common BRICS currency during its chairmanship last year, but the proposal was later dropped.