India Navigates Evolving Geopolitics in the Expanded BRICS

Gist India is set to host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in September 2026 , marking two decades since the grouping's formalisation. While the recently expanded 11-member bloc has overtaken the G7 in its share of global GDP, it is increasingly paralyzed by internal ideological splits and imported geopolitical rivalries among its new members. For an aspirant, understanding this evolution is critical: BRICS is transitioning from a consensus-driven economic coalition of emerging markets into a contested platform where India’s multi-alignment strategy directly collides with Sino-Russian attempts to build an anti-Western bloc. Background BRICS traces its origins to a 2006 Goldman Sachs projection identifying Brazil, Russia, India, and China as future engines of global growth. It evolved into a formal leaders' forum with its first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009 , and expanded to include South Africa in 2010 . The grouping's core, enduring mandate has been to demand a multipolar world order and the structural reform of global governance and financial institutions to reflect modern economic realities. Originally a five-member bloc, it underwent a massive expansion in…