India Weighs BRICS Role Through a Stronger New Development Bank

India's approach to BRICS is being framed around getting the most out of the grouping while avoiding any outcome that would bolster Beijing's influence within it. The New Development Bank (NDB), the bloc's own multilateral lender, is being viewed as the most workable channel for that cooperation.

The argument runs that the NDB gives member countries a concrete, institution-led agenda rather than a purely political one. By concentrating on the bank, India can engage with BRICS partners on development finance without ceding ground on wider strategic questions.

Three levers are identified for making the bank matter more. The first is capital: a larger resource base would allow the NDB to fund more projects and carry greater weight among multilateral lenders. The second is membership, with an expanded roster of countries seen as a way to broaden the bank's reach and legitimacy. The third is lending in local currencies, which would reduce reliance on major global currencies and make the bank's financing more attractive to members.

Taken together, these steps are presented as a way to make BRICS more relevant as a grouping. For India, the appeal lies in the fact that the NDB is an existing institution with a defined mandate, allowing cooperation to proceed on practical terms rather than through declarations alone.