BRICS at 20: Evolution and the quest for a greater role in global governance - IOL

As BRICS celebrates two decades of existence, its leaders gather in New Delhi to evaluate its journey and future. Will this coalition of emerging powers shape a new global landscape, or will its diversity become a hurdle in achieving collective goals?

Twenty years ago, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China sat down together to explore what was then an uncertain proposition: could four large emerging economies turn their growing economic weight into a meaningful voice in global affairs?

That meeting in September 2006 marked the beginning of what became known as BRIC. Five years later, South Africa joined, bringing the African continent into the grouping and turning BRIC into BRICS. What began as a cooperation mechanism among four major emerging economies has since evolved into a broader platform for strategic partnership and South-South cooperation.

BRICS has weathered scepticism, geopolitical turbulence, and repeated predictions of its demise. It has also grown into a much larger grouping, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joining in 2024, followed by Indonesia in early 2025.

As world leaders gather in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit in its 20th anniversary year, the question is no longer whether BRICS has survived — it plainly has. The more consequential question is whether it has exceeded the expectations attached to it two decades ago, and, more importantly, whether it can meet the far greater expectations now placed upon it.

Over the past 20 years, BRICS has grown from a dialogue among emerging economies into a multidimensional mechanism spanning trade, finance, energy, technology, health, climate, and people-to-people exchanges. Today, BRICS represents roughly half of the world's population and about 40% of global GDP in purchasing-power-parity terms. Yet its real achievement lies not in these numbers, but in strengthening the collective voice of emerging economies in global governance while preserving their strategic autonomy.

The New Development Bank is perhaps its most tangible institutional achievement. It has evolved from an ambitious concept into a fully functioning multilateral development bank. By June 2026, the NDB had approved 141 projects worth a cumulative $44 billion and disbursed $25 billion, while expanding local-currency financing to reduce foreign-exchange risk.

For developing countries, institutions such as the NDB matter because they expand financial and strategic options at a time when emerging economies are seeking a greater voice. Through local-currency financing, the NDB can help reduce reliance on a single currency, while BRICS as a whole seeks greater representation for the Global South in global governance.

But the evolution of BRICS is not simply a story of getting bigger. As the group has expanded, the question has increasingly shifted from how many countries it can bring together to what a larger BRICS can actually achieve.

This is the context in which Chinese President Xi Jinping has advanced the idea of "Greater BRICS." The term refers not simply to a larger membership, but to a broader and more inclusive phase of BRICS cooperation following its expansion. At the 2024 Kazan Summit, President Xi described the enlargement as a major milestone and called for the high-quality development of Greater BRICS cooperation. The summit also established a partner-country category, creating another channel for countries beyond full membership to participate in BRICS cooperation.

The significance of "Greater BRICS," then, lies as much in its wider reach as in its larger membership. With members spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, the expanded grouping brings together a broader range of development experiences, economic interests, and regional perspectives. It offers the Global South a more representative platform — while also making consensus harder to reach.

Recent tensions involving Iran, for instance, have highlighted the differing strategic interests among Iran, the Gulf members, and countries such as India and Brazil. Such differences do not necessarily undermine the BRICS framework. It was never designed as a military alliance, nor does it require its members to agree on every international crisis. Its value lies precisely in creating space for countries with different political systems, economic structures, and strategic interests to cooperate where their interests overlap.

India, as the 2026 BRICS chair, has placed this question at the centre of its agenda. Under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," New Delhi has emphasised practical cooperation in areas including trade, finance, digital agriculture, climate, and innovation. The focus reflects BRICS's broader approach of building consensus where interests overlap, rather than seeking alignment on every geopolitical issue.

BRICS does not need to become an anti-Western bloc to become more influential. Many developing countries are not looking for another ideological camp, but for greater strategic autonomy, more development opportunities, and a stronger voice in institutions that still reflect an earlier distribution of global power. In this sense, BRICS's broader significance lies not in replacing the existing international system, but in helping make it more representative, balanced, and responsive to the interests of emerging and developing economies.

China has played an important role in this evolution. During its 2022 BRICS chairmanship, Beijing promoted broader cooperation in areas including the digital economy, climate change, food security, and innovation. The "BRICS Plus" approach, first proposed by China in 2017 at the Xiamen Summit, also expanded engagement beyond full members by bringing other developing countries into the grouping's dialogue and cooperation. These efforts have helped shape the more open and inclusive framework now associated with Greater BRICS.

The challenge now is to make that wider platform deliver. Greater BRICS cannot rely on economic weight or expanding membership alone. Its credibility will increasingly depend on whether members can turn their diversity into practical cooperation, and their broader representation into tangible results. That means building consensus where interests overlap, while allowing differences to coexist where they do not.

China's 2027 BRICS chairmanship will provide an opportunity to advance this agenda. India has expressed its support for China's chairmanship, while Beijing has indicated it will work with all members to deepen substantive cooperation and promote the high-quality development of Greater BRICS, with a focus on shared-interest areas such as development, finance, and technology.

At 20, BRICS has moved well beyond the acronym that gave it its name. Its first two decades were shaped by the rise of emerging economies and the expansion of South-South cooperation. Its next chapter will be about turning that collective weight into greater representation, fairer rules, and more effective global governance.

Xu Yawen is a reporter and international affairs commentator with CGTN Radio, based in Beijing, covering Chinese foreign policy, technology, and the economy.