India and its Brics dilemmas

The five-country group faces challenges arising from bilateral differences and diverse political systems

The 11th BRICS summit concluded in Brazil on Friday with customary calls for strengthening multilateralism and reforming global institutions such as the UN Security Council (UNSC), World Trade Organisation, World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Initially, BRICS mainly had an economic agenda but gradually, the scope has widened to include security, health, science and technology, culture and civil society. Under the chairmanship of Brazil, more than a hundred meetings relating to BRICS were held in 2019.

From an Indian perspective, two major developments happened at the summit. One, the grouping decided to open a regional office of the New