{"id":124106,"date":"2026-09-12T11:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=124106"},"modified":"2026-09-12T11:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:27:48","slug":"brics-from-anti-western-bloc-to-platform-for-reforming-global-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/brics-from-anti-western-bloc-to-platform-for-reforming-global-order\/","title":{"rendered":"BRICS &#8211; From Anti-Western Bloc to Platform for Reforming Global Order"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>BRICS Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As <\/span><b>India presides<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As both supporters and critics often interpret BRICS through an anti-Western lens, the <\/span><b>perception <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that BRICS seeks to overthrow the US-led global system must be <\/span><b>dispelled<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There exists significant differences among BRICS members, and their objectives range from accommodation with the West and<\/span><b> strategic autonomy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to demands for greater parity and, in some cases, direct confrontation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>BRICS Is Not a Unified Anti-Western Alliance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>India and Brazil<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> particularly oppose transforming BRICS into an anti-Western bloc.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both seek a<\/span><b> larger role <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in an international system that can provide greater trade, technology, investment and diplomatic influence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The political orientation of BRICS members towards the West exists on a spectrum &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Iran <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lies closest to the anti-Western pole, with resistance to US influence deeply embedded in its foreign-policy identity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Russia <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>China <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are in strategic competition with the West but continue to seek recognition, influence and a greater role in shaping the international order.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India, Brazil and several <\/span><b>newer members<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> favour strategic autonomy, institutional reform and greater representation rather than confrontation with the West.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, BRICS is better understood as a <\/span><b>coalition <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">seeking greater agency for emerging and developing powers than as a coherent anti-Western alliance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Brazil &#8211; Reforming the Order from Within<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brazil provides the clearest example of why the \u201c<\/span><b>West vs <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/global-south\/\" target=\"_blank\">Global South<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d binary is inadequate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its constitutional democracy, legal traditions and diplomatic emphasis on international law and multilateralism reinforce this connection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brazil therefore does not seek to overthrow the existing order from outside. Its approach towards the major powers is driven primarily by<\/span><b> national interest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> rather than ideology.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Brazil supports faster and cheaper bilateral payment mechanisms, including settlements in national currencies where beneficial.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it does <\/span><b>not <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">support making <\/span><b>de-dollarisation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or a common BRICS currency the central objective of the grouping.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A common currency would require substantial political trust, economic convergence and institutional integration, which BRICS currently lacks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>India &#8211; Non-Western Does Not Mean Anti-Western<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a post-colonial developing country, India seeks strategic autonomy and does not want to become a geopolitical appendage of the US or Europe.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, India&#8217;s partnerships with the US, Europe, Japan and Australia have expanded significantly in trade, technology, defence and other areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s simultaneous participation in <\/span><b>BRICS <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/quad\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Quad <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reflects this multi-alignment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India therefore has an interest in keeping BRICS focused on reforming global governance rather than constructing geopolitical confrontation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Russia and China &#8211; Competition with the West, Not Complete Separation<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Russia&#8217;s <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">conflict with the West has become deep and structural, particularly due to the Ukraine war, NATO&#8217;s role in European security and Western sanctions.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet Moscow continues to seek recognition as a major power and a meaningful role in shaping European and global security arrangements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>China <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, China&#8217;s economic rise itself was closely connected with Western markets, capital and technology.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China therefore seeks not necessarily to exit the existing international system, but to obtain a <\/span><b>more equal role<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in shaping it, including greater influence relative to the United States.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>New Members Complicating the Anti-Western Narrative<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newer BRICS members also weaken the idea of a unified anti-Western bloc &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Egypt <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">maintains important security ties with the US.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>UAE <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has extensive economic and strategic relations with the US and Europe.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Indonesia <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">follows a \u201cfree and active\u201d foreign policy, preserving strategic manoeuvring space among competing major powers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Iran <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remains the major exception, as resistance to US and Israeli influence is central to the Islamic Republic&#8217;s political identity.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Tehran, BRICS provides diplomatic legitimacy and an avenue to counter US-led isolation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Way Forward for India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s diplomatic task at the summit is to ensure that <\/span><b>autonomy <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from the United States is not equated with <\/span><b>antagonism <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">towards it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Delhi should position BRICS as &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A platform for <\/span><b>reforming global governance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, rather than dismantling it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A mechanism for enhancing the voice and representation of the Global South.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A<\/span><b> forum for multipolarity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and strategic autonomy, rather than bloc politics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A vehicle for cooperation in areas such as development finance, technology, trade and alternative payment mechanisms, without forcing ideological uniformity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A complement to India&#8217;s other partnerships, including the Quad, rather than their geopolitical counterweight.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS is united less by opposition to the West than by <\/span><b>dissatisfaction <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with the unequal distribution of power in the existing international system.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its members have divergent strategic interests and varying relationships with the West.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India can best advance its interests by promoting BRICS as a <\/span><b>reformist, inclusive and multipolar platform<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014one that seeks a more representative international order without turning strategic autonomy into anti-Western confrontation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-why-you-cant-put-brics-in-the-anti-west-box-10874215\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>IE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":124116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2917],"class_list":["post-124106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-brics","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124130,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124106\/revisions\/124130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}