Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa brings together four countries with very different political systems, strategic interests and relationships with the West. Yet their presence together under the BRICS banner illustrates the grouping’s central proposition: emerging powers need not agree on every geopolitical question to cooperate in reshaping global institutions, trade and finance.
For India, the symbolism is particularly significant. New Delhi maintains deep strategic ties with Russia, important connectivity and energy interests with Iran, and a longstanding partnership with South Africa, while simultaneously expanding relations with the USA and Europe. Modi’s position in this grouping therefore reflects India’s broader foreign-policy strategy—strategic autonomy rather than alignment with a single bloc.
The real test for BRICS, however, is whether such political symbolism can be translated into workable arrangements on trade, payments, development finance and reform of global governance despite substantial differences among its members.
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