NEW DELHI: The BRICS grouping is entering a critical phase in its evolution as its expanding membership and growing economic and geopolitical weight bring new opportunities and greater complexity, top analysts reckoned during a key dialogue organised on Tuesday ahead of this week's significant 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The BRICS Dialogue organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) brought together diplomats, policymakers, scholars and experts to examine the evolving role of BRICS in the international order.
During the discussions, the experts emphasised that India's fourth BRICS Presidency came at a particularly significant juncture, amid geopolitical contestation, economic fragmentation, technological disruption and growing demands for reform of global governance institutions. India’s presidency, they mentioned, sought to strengthen BRICS as a platform for practical, inclusive and sustainable cooperation under the theme of 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
"BRICS is at the core of the Global South. Its relevance has grown amid a rapidly changing global order. Combining strengths is critical, and trilateral cooperation can be one of the most feasible ways to advance meaningful collaboration despite differences," said Ambassador Dammu Ravi, Former Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), who represented India at several key BRICS meetings during his tenure.
Emphasising the importance of multilateral organisations such as BRICS, he further noted: "It is not about de-dollarisation, but about creating alternative avenues for trade and financial transactions. Given the diversity within BRICS, mechanisms such as the New Development Bank, with its capacity to facilitate transactions in local currencies, can play an important role.” He added that India can take the lead in setting up a BRICS Secretariat. CRF President Shishir Priyadarshi also highlighted the importance of economic cooperation, noting that trade is one of the strongest pillars of geo-economic cooperation.
"The other three are financial cooperation, technology, and geopolitical integration. The challenge is building effective groupings despite geopolitical differences," mentioned the noted expert who is also a former Director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
BRICS has evolved considerably since its emergence as an economic grouping. Its agenda today extends across global governance and institutional reform, trade and investment, development finance, technology and artificial intelligence, energy and climate, digital transformation and South-South cooperation. (IANS)
Also Read: India’s BRICS presidency to drive inclusive Global South agenda, says Chowna Mein