Welcome to the BRICS Institute, India!
Welcome to the BRICS Institute, India!
The Expanded BRICS Architecture
India assumed the rotating BRICS chairship on 1 January 2026, its fourth such tenure after 2012, 2016, and 2021. The bloc now comprises 11 full members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates — together with 10 partner countries that joined in January 2025: Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Four additional countries — Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey, and Vietnam — were invited as partner countries at the Kazan Summit in October 2024 but had not formally confirmed their status as of early 2025.
The expansion of BRICS to 21+ countries, including multiple European-adjacent states (Belarus, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), and the growing informal dialogue between BRICS members and European institutions, represents a qualitative shift in the bloc's character. Several European countries — including Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia — have expressed sympathy with the BRICS approach to multipolar governance. The EU's collective position remains opposed to its member states joining BRICS, but the political heterogeneity within the EU means this consensus is not immovable.
India's presidency is guided by the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' (BRICS) — a deliberate restatement of the bloc's own acronym. Prime Minister Modi's Humanity First framework positions India as a bridge between the Global South and Western-aligned institutions, emphasising that BRICS is a forum for inclusive development, not a confrontational anti-Western coalition. BRICS India 2026 has explicitly positioned the bloc as a bridge between the Global South and Western institutions.
Proposal for a 'BRICS European Dialogue Partner' Framework
India's BRICS presidency should table a proposal for a European Dialogue Partner category — formally inviting select European-adjacent states (Turkey, Serbia, Georgia, and potentially Hungary) to engage with BRICS on multilateral governance reform, climate finance, and development finance agendas where European and BRICS interests converge. This positions BRICS as a genuinely multipolar platform, not a China-Russia bloc, and directly serves India's stated Humanity First and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam framing.
The 2026 BRICS Civil Council should recommend to the Indian BRICS Sherpa track (chaired by Secretary Sudhakar Dalela) that a dedicated BRICS-India-Europe diplomatic dialogue be initiated especially for the European nations. This proposal of creating a European Dialogue Partner concept would formally invite select European states — Turkey, Serbia, Hungary, and potentially others — to engage with BRICS on specific multilateral governance reform agendas (UNSC reform, IMF voting share reform, WTO reform, climate finance) where European and BRICS positions converge, without requiring those countries to choose between their European/NATO identities and BRICS engagement.
The Civil Council's role is to create the informal diplomatic space — through BRICS Think Tank Council, Civil Forum, and Academic Forum channels — in which such a reset can be prepared before formal government-to-government engagement. The inaugural BRICS European Dialogue Forum — potentially hosted in New Delhi, given its unique civilisational bridge position — would signal BRICS's post-confrontational character, create direct engagement with major European econmies and thus enhance the role of BRICS in creating a new Multipolar world order which is not based on binary considerations.
Think Future! Think BRICS!
Think Future! Think BRICS!
India assumed the rotating chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2026, taking over from Brazil. This marks India’s fourth tenure as chair after 2012, 2016, and 2021. During its presidency, India will host the 18th BRICS Summit later in 2026, along with an extensive calendar of ministerial and sectoral meetings covering commerce, connectivity, technology, fintech, education, counter-terrorism, climate action, and sustainable development.
The official theme of India’s BRICS 2026 chairship is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” reflecting a people-centric, humanity-first approach articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme emphasizes inclusive growth, shared responsibility, and collective solutions to global challenges. Together, they form the foundation of India’s vision for a more balanced, equitable, and future-ready BRICS framework.
The annual BRICS summits play a crucial role in driving the group's mission forward and strengthening cooperation among its member states. Each summit often unveils new partnerships, working groups, or joint ventures. The whole process of summit meetings sometime lasts for a week time, which is like mini–United Nations. The 2024 Russian chairmanship of BRICS hosted more than 200 meetings and cultural events with participation from 40 plus countries including non-BRICS members. This is being seen as largest gathering of leaders form global south to deliberate on challenges and find some common solutions. In 2025, Brazil hosted another round of expanded leaders summit where whole global south was present. this year it is India’s responsibility to take forward BRICS mechanism to become an institutionalized global institution and not just a discussion group.
Geopolitically, India’s BRICS chairship is positioned as a stabilizing and consensus-building effort within an increasingly multipolar world. India has emphasized South-South cooperation, reform of global governance institutions, poverty alleviation, climate transition, and development financing, while avoiding confrontational postures. With an expanded BRICS membership, India’s approach focuses on inclusivity, flexibility, and institutional cohesion, ensuring that BRICS remains effective despite its growing diversity.
A key emerging focus under India’s presidency is financial innovation, particularly the proposal to link BRICS central bank digital currencies. Other priorities expected to shape discussions include trade facilitation in national currencies, infrastructure development, sustainable finance, technological collaboration, education and skills exchange, and stronger people-to-people ties. India has also reiterated the need for reforms in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO, so that global decision-making structures better reflect contemporary economic and geopolitical realities.
This year, under the aegis of the BRICS Civil Council, we are organizing a series of roundtables and a major conference in New Delhi, focusing on issues like global governance, health, digital cooperation, and sustainable development. We expect a strong delegation from civil society and think tanks of all the BRICS Member countries.As preparations for the 18th BRICS Summit continue, India’s presidency is expected to deliver a forward-looking agenda that balances strategic ambition with practical cooperation. BRICS India 2026 seeks to reinforce the grouping’s role as a credible platform for the Global South, capable of shaping global discourse on development, resilience, and sustainable growth in the 21st century. For official updates and developments, the BRICS 2026 website, http://brics2026.gov.in, serves as the central reference point.
In the current global crisis and deinstitutionalization, Civil society organizations across the spectrum are facing sever challenges of funding and legitimacy. on the one hand they are simultaneously called upon to fill governance gaps left by weakening institutions, while facing growing constraints on funding, mobility, and political legitimacy. on the other hand they are denied basic funding and political cal support to carry out their stated mission. In this context, the role of independent media, civic networks, and international civil society platforms becomes critical—not as alternative centres of power, but as mechanisms of accountability, social resilience, and cross-border dialogue. In this context BRICS Civil forum in India will hold a significant forum for global civil society organizations. keep watching these spaces for more details.
वर्तमान वैश्विक संकट और संस्थागत शिथिलता के दौर में, नागरिक समाज के विभिन्न संगठनों को वित्तपोषण और वैधता संबंधी गंभीर चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। एक ओर तो उन्हें कमजोर होते संस्थानों द्वारा छोड़े गए शासन संबंधी अंतरालों को भरने का आह्वान किया जा रहा है, वहीं दूसरी ओर वित्तपोषण, गतिशीलता और राजनीतिक वैधता पर बढ़ते प्रतिबंधों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। वहीं दूसरी ओर, उन्हें अपने घोषित मिशन को पूरा करने के लिए बुनियादी वित्तपोषण और राजनीतिक समर्थन से वंचित किया जा रहा है। इस संदर्भ में, स्वतंत्र मीडिया, नागरिक नेटवर्क और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय नागरिक समाज मंचों की भूमिका महत्वपूर्ण हो जाती है - वैकल्पिक सत्ता केंद्रों के रूप में नहीं, बल्कि जवाबदेही, सामाजिक लचीलेपन और सीमा पार संवाद के तंत्र के रूप में। ब्रिक्स की भारत की अध्यक्षता खाद्य एवं ऊर्जा सुरक्षा, जलवायु परिवर्तन और डिजिटल परिवर्तन, स्टार्टअप्स, नवाचार और मज़बूत विकास साझेदारी के माध्यम से सतत विकास पर केंद्रित होगी। विदेश मंत्री जयशंकर ने न्यूयॉर्क में ब्रिक्स विदेश मंत्रियों की बैठक की मेज़बानी की। उन्होंने ज़ोर देकर कहा कि ब्रिक्स को संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद में सुधारों के अपने "सामूहिक आह्वान" को और मज़बूत करना चाहिए। इसी संदर्भ में, भारत में आयोजित ब्रिक्स फोरम वैश्विक नागरिक समाज संगठनों के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण मंच होगा। अधिक जानकारी के लिए इन स्थानों पर नज़र रखें।
BRICS Plus memeber countires (2026).
BRICS is expanding and many countires have applied to join
New!