India's Chance to Restore Cohesion in Expanded BRICS

Gist India is set to host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in September 2026 , facing the critical challenge of managing a newly expanded and increasingly fractious membership. The entry of six new nations has severely strained the grouping's traditional consensus-based decision-making, importing bilateral conflicts and threatening a paralysis similar to SAARC. For an aspirant, this summit represents a defining test of India's foreign policy: New Delhi must actively prevent Beijing and Moscow from weaponising BRICS into an overtly anti-Western bloc, while simultaneously preserving the forum as a legitimate voice for the Global South and a vehicle for reforming multilateral institutions. Background BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa was established to amplify the voice of emerging economies in global governance and to push for a more equitable multilateral order, particularly through the reform of the Western-led Bretton Woods financial institutions. Historically, the grouping maintained internal cohesion through a strict adherence to the principle of absolute consensus, ensuring no single member could dominate proceedings or force a divisive agenda. However, recent aggressive expansion driven by China has diluted…