New Delhi, Sept. 8: India’s 2026 BRICS Presidency comes at a time when emerging economies are gaining greater influence over global trade, investment, development finance and international economic governance, creating opportunities for New Delhi to expand exports, attract investment, diversify supply chains and deepen manufacturing and technology partnerships.
An article published on the European Times news website said BRICS has evolved from its original five-member structure into a wider platform reflecting the economic interests and aspirations of the Global South. The expansion has also increased the grouping’s geographic and economic reach.
India is chairing BRICS in 2026 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. The expanded grouping comprises Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, along with 10 partner countries.
The partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Their inclusion has further widened the grouping’s economic and geographic outreach.
The article noted that the expanded BRICS brings together major manufacturing economies, energy exporters, agricultural producers, large consumer markets, technology hubs and rapidly developing economies. These differing economic strengths can create complementarities in trade and investment, with manufacturing economies requiring energy and raw materials while commodity-producing nations seek technology, investment and industrial diversification.
Large and expanding consumer markets also create scope for trade in manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, food products, services and technology. The article linked this diversity to efforts by countries and companies to develop more resilient supply chains amid geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and wider economic uncertainty.
For India, the broader BRICS platform offers an avenue to pursue stronger export opportunities, attract investment, build diversified supply chains and expand technology partnerships. It also provides a forum for India to engage with economies across different regions and contribute to discussions on a more inclusive and multipolar global economic order.
BRICS has increasingly expanded its cooperation beyond conventional economic engagement to areas including finance, technology, infrastructure, health, agriculture, energy, climate action and digital transformation. The grouping’s approach emphasises sovereign equality, inclusiveness, mutual respect and consensus-based engagement.
The BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi on May 14–15 under India’s chairmanship reinforced this wider agenda, according to the article. The meeting stressed stronger strategic cooperation across political, economic, financial, cultural and people-to-people areas and called for a more democratic, representative and accountable international system.
The article argued that this broader agenda reflects BRICS’ growing role as a platform through which emerging economies seek greater participation and influence in global decision-making, extending its significance beyond its earlier identity as primarily an economic grouping.
