DC Edit | Many More BRICS in Global South Wall

India played the perfect host to the summit of Brics that is assuming rising relevance in the current scenario of a world of conflicted geopolitics. All the internal contradictions in a grouping of nations that has in its ranks a victim as well as perpetrator of one of two major wars which are on today were smoothed over in another show of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personalised style of diplomacy.

The signing of the joint declaration of 11 nations and 10 partner countries is to be viewed as a triumph of diplomacy even as BRICS has matured after 20 years into a forum that commands a fair share of economic and political clout and has learnt how to use it without having necessarily to step on the toes of any super economic or military power.

The document may not have gone far enough to condemn unequivocally the wars that are impacting the world economy, particularly nations that are dependent on a free flow of oil and gas and goods and commodities through the regular sea routes to the east. But that could be because Russia is one of the key members, and Mr Vladimir Putin was attending his first BRICS summit since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

With China, India and Russia in the grouping, the forum could let out what may appear to be a rant against the world order still dominated by the West in most decision-making processes, besides the whimsical and unilateral ordering of tariffs, sanctions and other tools used to dominate the global order as the occupant of the White House is attempting to do.

Mr Donald Trump was very much the elephant in the room as the two-day summit brought out a declaration that said so much about what is wrong with the world order today and why the Global South should feel so offended by it. And yet the world needs the US, too, if only for its economic clout, if not for its military prowess that seems to have had some doubts clouding it after its war with Iran in which it seems to have had no compunction about bombing sites containing material for nuclear fuel.

Given the trappings of drama in a summit of so many world leaders, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the open session, and a grand dinner whose menu did not embody the diverse flavours of a truly international cuisine, India may still have managed it well enough. It may not, however, have done enough to sort its own relationship with China where a fundamental difference of opinion still exists on whether advancing all round ties should get precedence over peace and tranquility at the LAC.

The other major point over which India may not have progressed as much as it would have liked to is the trade deficit with various members of the bloc which are still in negative territory. The nation may have to pay the price for playing host to Brics at a particularly fraught time globally, which might have come at the cost of looking after its own trade interests.

Balancing the import-export books is going to be a challenging task which will have to be tackled progressively by following up on what may be promised in bilateral meetings. The fact is India has emerged with its image enhanced in a world that is getting more multipolar by the day but so much remains to be done internally for the strength of the economy to be reflected in welfare and jobs for many more people when the pop and fizzle of grand summits fade.