BRICS – From Anti-Western Bloc to Platform for Reforming Global Order

BRICS Latest News

• As India presides over the BRICS Summit in Delhi, its central diplomatic challenge is to project the grouping as a platform for reforming and democratising the international order.
• As both supporters and critics often interpret BRICS through an anti-Western lens, the perception that BRICS seeks to overthrow the US-led global system must be dispelled.
• There exists significant differences among BRICS members, and their objectives range from accommodation with the West and strategic autonomy to demands for greater parity and, in some cases, direct confrontation.

BRICS Is Not a Unified Anti-Western Alliance

• India and Brazil particularly oppose transforming BRICS into an anti-Western bloc.
  Both seek a larger role in an international system that can provide greater trade, technology, investment and diplomatic influence.
• The political orientation of BRICS members towards the West exists on a spectrum –
  • Iran lies closest to the anti-Western pole, with resistance to US influence deeply embedded in its foreign-policy identity.
  • Russia and China are in strategic competition with the West but continue to seek recognition, influence and a greater role in shaping the international order.
  • India, Brazil and several newer members favour strategic autonomy, institutional reform and greater representation rather than confrontation with the West.
• Thus, BRICS is better understood as a coalition seeking greater agency for emerging and developing powers than as a coherent anti-Western alliance.

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Brazil – Reforming the Order from Within

• Brazil provides the clearest example of why the “West vs Global South” binary is inadequate.
• Although Brazil is a leading Global South power and strongly advocates reform of global institutions, its historical, cultural and institutional foundations are deeply connected to the Iberian and Euro-Atlantic world. 
• Its constitutional democracy, legal traditions and diplomatic emphasis on international law and multilateralism reinforce this connection.
• Brazil therefore does not seek to overthrow the existing order from outside. Its approach towards the major powers is driven primarily by national interest rather than ideology. 
• For instance, Brazil supports faster and cheaper bilateral payment mechanisms, including settlements in national currencies where beneficial. 
• However, it does not support making de-dollarisation or a common BRICS currency the central objective of the grouping.
• A common currency would require substantial political trust, economic convergence and institutional integration, which BRICS currently lacks.

India – Non-Western Does Not Mean Anti-Western

• As a post-colonial developing country, India seeks strategic autonomy and does not want to become a geopolitical appendage of the US or Europe. 
• At the same time, India’s partnerships with the US, Europe, Japan and Australia have expanded significantly in trade, technology, defence and other areas.
• India’s simultaneous participation in BRICS and the Quad reflects this multi-alignment.
• For New Delhi, BRICS derives value from its diversity. However, its utility would decline if it evolved into a China-led alliance against the West. 
• India therefore has an interest in keeping BRICS focused on reforming global governance rather than constructing geopolitical confrontation.

Russia and China – Competition with the West, Not Complete Separation

• Russia’s conflict with the West has become deep and structural, particularly due to the Ukraine war, NATO’s role in European security and Western sanctions. 
  • Yet Moscow continues to seek recognition as a major power and a meaningful role in shaping European and global security arrangements.
• China presents a different contradiction. Beijing challenges US primacy in Asia, seeks to reduce vulnerabilities arising from Western technology restrictions and supports a more representative international order. 
  • However, China’s economic rise itself was closely connected with Western markets, capital and technology.
  • China therefore seeks not necessarily to exit the existing international system, but to obtain a more equal role in shaping it, including greater influence relative to the United States.

New Members Complicating the Anti-Western Narrative

• The newer BRICS members also weaken the idea of a unified anti-Western bloc –
  • Egypt maintains important security ties with the US.
  • UAE has extensive economic and strategic relations with the US and Europe.
  • Indonesia follows a “free and active” foreign policy, preserving strategic manoeuvring space among competing major powers.
• These countries seek strategic autonomy, stronger ties with China and a greater Global South voice, but do not necessarily seek membership in an anti-Western alliance.
• Iran remains the major exception, as resistance to US and Israeli influence is central to the Islamic Republic’s political identity. 
  • For Tehran, BRICS provides diplomatic legitimacy and an avenue to counter US-led isolation. 

Way Forward for India

• India’s diplomatic task at the summit is to ensure that autonomy from the United States is not equated with antagonism towards it.
• New Delhi should position BRICS as –
  • A platform for reforming global governance, rather than dismantling it.
  • A mechanism for enhancing the voice and representation of the Global South.
  • A forum for multipolarity and strategic autonomy, rather than bloc politics.
  • A vehicle for cooperation in areas such as development finance, technology, trade and alternative payment mechanisms, without forcing ideological uniformity.
  • A complement to India’s other partnerships, including the Quad, rather than their geopolitical counterweight.

Conclusion

• BRICS is united less by opposition to the West than by dissatisfaction with the unequal distribution of power in the existing international system. 
• Its members have divergent strategic interests and varying relationships with the West.
• India can best advance its interests by promoting BRICS as a reformist, inclusive and multipolar platform—one that seeks a more representative international order without turning strategic autonomy into anti-Western confrontation.

Source: IE