BRICS as a geopolitical startup

Think of BRICS as a geopolitical startup: Ambitious, imperfect and still searching for a model that works.

For all the summits, declarations and photographs of leaders together, BRICS today remains largely a forum for consultation and coordination. It does not possess the institutional machinery, economic integration or strategic cohesion required to fundamentally reshape the global order.

But startups are about potential. And BRICS has the potential to become a geopolitical unicorn.

The real opportunity may not lie in creating a BRICS currency. That idea faces formidable economic and political obstacles. Trade among BRICS members is deeply unbalanced, and any common currency architecture would inevitably raise the question of China's economic dominance—something India and several other members would have strong reasons to resist.

The more consequential development could be much less dramatic: interoperability of payment systems. Can BRICS connect national payment and settlement systems without creating a common currency—and without exposing India to new financial, technological and security risks? If it can, the implications could be significant.

Such an architecture would require coordination among central banks, payment operators, foreign-exchange markets, cybersecurity agencies and regulatory authorities. Countries could continue using their own currencies while developing mechanisms for faster and cheaper cross-border settlement. It would not dethrone the dollar overnight, but it could gradually reduce dependence on dollar-based infrastructure for some categories of trade.

There is also a geopolitical incentive. Across BRICS and parts of the Global South, dissatisfaction is growing with Washington's use of tariffs, financial restrictions, sanctions and other instruments of economic power. That is encouraging countries with otherwise very different strategic interests to explore alternatives to systems dominated by the United States.

BRICS does not need to become an anti-American alliance to matter. Nor does it need a common currency. If it can build practical financial infrastructure that allows countries to trade and settle payments more efficiently while retaining monetary sovereignty, it could evolve from a diplomatic talking shop into something considerably more consequential.

The biggest BRICS story may therefore not be de-dollarisation. It may be interoperability. And that is where this geopolitical startup could begin its journey towards becoming a unicorn.