{"id":124364,"date":"2026-09-14T11:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T05:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=124364"},"modified":"2026-09-14T11:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T05:40:25","slug":"ndb-and-brics-how-india-can-strengthen-brics-without-strengthening-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ndb-and-brics-how-india-can-strengthen-brics-without-strengthening-china\/","title":{"rendered":"NDB and BRICS: How India Can Strengthen BRICS Without Strengthening China"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>NDB and BRICS Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS leaders gathered at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12, 2026, with India holding the chair.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Against this backdrop, analysts argue that India should focus on the New Development Bank (NDB) as the most practical avenue for BRICS cooperation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening the NDB through greater capital, wider membership and local-currency lending can make the grouping relevant without advancing Beijing&#8217;s strategic position.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Representation Grievance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS&#8217; economic and demographic weight has not translated into institutional influence:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2011, the five original members contributed 20 per cent of global GDP but held only 11 per cent of voting share at the IMF.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, the expanded grouping accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global GDP and 55 per cent of the world&#8217;s population, yet its IMF voting share has barely grown.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why BRICS Lacks a Coherent Identity<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The grouping is divided over its purpose. Russia, China and Iran want it to be anti-West. India, Brazil and South Africa see it as non-West.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given these divergences and the importance of India-US ties, Delhi cannot join the Beijing-Moscow de-dollarisation campaign. Doing so would worsen already strained relations with Washington and would be unsustainable in the medium term.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s approach must therefore work within the constraints of membership: maximising the grouping&#8217;s potential without strengthening Beijing.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within these limits, <\/span><b>the NDB offers real possibilities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The NDB: BRICS&#8217; Most Tangible Tool<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NDB was established by BRICS countries in 2015 to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging markets and developing countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the grouping&#8217;s most concrete instrument, and one that can contribute to the global financial order without directly challenging American predominance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The NDB&#8217;s Underperformance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite a decade in operation, the NDB has lagged well behind its peer, the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-aiib\/\" target=\"_blank\">Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),<\/a> <\/strong>established around the same time:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Projects approved \u2013 139 (NDB); 350 (AIIB)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commitments<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">~$43 billion (NDB); ~$69 billion (AIIB)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Members &#8211; Mostly core members (NDB); 111 approved members (AIIB)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Credit rating &#8211; AA\/AA+ (NDB); AAA (AIIB)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Additional weaknesses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stagnant asset growth restricts lending capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disbursement is exceptionally slow. Only about $20 billion of approved loans has actually been disbursed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China and India together account for 51 per cent of the active portfolio.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transport infrastructure takes the largest share (38 per cent), followed by COVID-19 emergency assistance (25 per cent).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Breaking the Asset Bottleneck<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One solution is for the five founders to raise their paid-up capital. But this faces obstacles:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Russia, heavily sanctioned, cannot match higher commitments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sanctions have strained the bank&#8217;s credit standing and raised its dollar funding costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ironically, though Moscow and Beijing champion de-dollarisation, the NDB has extended no new credit to Russia since March 2022 to protect its AA\/AA+ rating.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bank&#8217;s rules mandate equal voting shares among founders, so capital expansion is effectively held hostage by its financially weakest member.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New members can bring fresh capital, but the founders&#8217; collective voting share cannot fall below 55 per cent.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What the NDB Has Done for India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bank has served India well. It has committed nearly $10 billion across <\/span><b>32 projects<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including metro rail systems and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/rrts\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expanding the NDB to match other multilateral lenders would require extending such benefits to many more emerging markets and developing countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Local-Currency Advantage<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A notable strength of the NDB is its preference for <\/span><b>local-currency lending<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This appeals to emerging economies facing sustained foreign-exchange volatility due to global military and economic wars.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It offers a way to reduce reliance on the dollar without replacing it as the currency for trade invoicing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bank&#8217;s 2022-26 General Strategy commits to 30 per cent of lending and borrowing in members&#8217; local currencies, though most remains in dollars.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, existing local-currency activity is heavily skewed towards the Renminbi. The NDB recently priced a \u00a57 billion (about $1.04 billion) three-year Panda bond in the China Interbank bond market.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Pushing the Rupee Bond<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analysts urge India to push the long-delayed rupee bond over the line.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A rupee bond programme was floated in March 2026 to mobilise around Rs 25,000 crore over five years<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the 2026 New Delhi Declaration did not include a meaningful agreement on mobilising the NDB, India&#8217;s BRICS focus next year should be on simpler fixes to local-currency challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, whose recent summit produced bare-minimum outcomes, BRICS has tangible economic tools and its widest membership ever.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a world drifting towards &#8220;<\/span><b>subscription multilateralism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,&#8221; exemplified by Washington&#8217;s pay-to-shape-the-rules Board of Peace, these concrete arrangements are what will set BRICS apart.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/the-brics-bank-an-alternative-that-wasnt\/article71457282.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/opinion\/brics-must-prioritise-new-development-bank-101789056282494.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NDB and BRICS can offer India a practical path to deepen economic cooperation through local-currency lending, wider membership and stronger development financing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":124391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,10227,22,59],"class_list":["post-124364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-ndb-and-brics","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124364","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\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124364"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124399,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124364\/revisions\/124399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}