“BRICS was setup to hurt us, BRICS was setup to degenerate us and hurt our dollar; and take our dollar, take it off as a standard.” -Donald Trump (July 2025)
BRICS: An Economic Block Turned Global Powerhouse
Under the theme of, “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance”, the 17th Summit of the BRICS Nations was held at the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro, and resultantly the “Rio De Janeiro Declaration” was also signed, with resolutions and multilateral agreements like that on artificial intelligence, climate change, climate diplomacy, anti-terrorism, prevention of money laundering and cross-border terrorism, also coming up as positive results of the Summit. However, this strengthening of the BRICS collaboration and trans-national organisational commitment has reportedly irked the Western power of USA, with President Donald Trump clearly threatening the BRICS, and especially India, in what is seen by him as an attempt to overpower the global dominance of Dollar and American supremacy.
The hegemony of American diktats, and unilateral sanctions is now in jeopardy and serious dilemma, according to President Trump, which has him act speedily against at least India and Brazil. With India, still in talks of trade negotiations with her US counterpart, and exercising diplomatic silence and restraint in her response to the recent remarks by President Trump, Brazil has out rightly (July 10, 2025) stated that it is not interested in accepting anybody’s tutelage at a global stage, and would significantly take its own decisions, unguided by fears of repercussions and reprisals. This might come as a surprise to many, but BRICS is indeed coming out of its past shadows and pushing the boundaries in order to excel in its own initially stated objectives. To understand the whole paradigm, it is pertinent to trace out the history of BRICS, from its very initiation till date.
BRICS: An Introductory Brief Conceptual Note
The acronym BRIC was historically coined by well known British economist Jim O’Neill in the year 2001 to represent and academically mention the upcoming emerging economies of Brazil, India, Russia and China. These economies were poised to have a major market share of the coming decadal growth with opportunities prevalent in service sector, manufacturing and beyond. Formally BRIC started functioning as a formal grouping of these economies during the G-8 Outreach Summit in 2006, and held its first summit in Russia (2009), while added the “S” to its acronym with the inclusion of South Africa in 2010.
The initial five major economies which formed as the revered members of the upcoming group were Brazil, India, China and Russia. This membership was increased with the inclusion of South Africa (2009), Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Ethiopia (2024), and Indonesia (2025). Saudi Arabia and Argentina are also in the fray to join the grouping, however, the word on the same is not final yet.
But why does really BRICS ring a cautionary bell in the Western circles of economic groupings? Why is that a simplistic economic bloc is possibly a threat to other powers? This is because that BRICS accounts for 45% of the world’s population and 37.3% of the global GDP, which comfortably surpasses the European Union’s GDP of 14.5% and G7’s which stands at 29.3%. BRICS, is today taken as a very powerful economic grouping and has already a bank that is formulated and propagated by its member nations, The New Development Bank (2014), with Contingent Reserve Arrangements (CRAs), BRICS Grain Exchanges and the STI Framework Programme(2015) already functioning in a very organised manner.
BRICS is today not just an economic bloc but is now spearheading changes and challenges to stay relevant in a world where bilateral-multilateral fissures run deeply between even the member nations, so much so, that the same can account for abysmal end of the organisation, if not resolved diplomatically. BRICS Rapid Information Security Channel is also an example of the member nations going just beyond understanding statistics.
BRICS: Redefining Global Power Dynamics and Diplomatic Equilibrium
BRICS is undoubtedly and quintessentially redefining the power balance of the globe, and that is why it has righteously put some economies on the edge. With the coming in of newer powers in the BRICS dynamics, energy and power security has also become a niche talking point of the group. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are known for their oil and crude productions and efficiently supply global crude oil to a number of nations, including India. This has put BRICS in the centre of the talking point because it now accounts for 44% of the global crude oil production and henceforth, BRICS can and will influence global chains of supply and power efficiency.
More so, because of the ongoing unwanted disruptions in the global supply mechanisms due to the unrestricted Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Gaza standoff, and Israel’s deterrence against Iran, and its proxies such as Hezbollah, Houthis, and the Hamas. With the suspected (now deterred) blockage of the Gulf of Persia and Strait of Hormuz, global trade is in tatters and tariff wars are still impinging upon the global trade mechanisms. Add on it, the ongoing uncertainty over the Red Sea spectrum, and Pacific-control contests. Amidst all this, the basic balance that BRICS has maintained explicitly and implicitly, can cause envy to any other organisation in the global diplomacy paradigm, easily and inevitably. The equilibrium that the grouping has striven to maintain is commendable, beyond words.
BRICS is now not just a global powerhouse of economic well-being and trade equi-balance, but is also known as a votary of multilateral reforms and “Rules-based order” (as has been promoted at various occasions by honourable Prime of Minister of India), as well as positive transformations in the components and key working areas of United Nations, which have been left un-reformed even in the light of major international changes, that have taken place since the formation of the United Nations. Non-western nations are a highlight of BRICS, and BRICS has also emerged as a platform of positive inclusivity, neutral forum of resolution of bilateral or multilateral disputes (issues between India and China since the Doklam Standoff 2020), and a counter-measure against various western dominated blocs such as G7, or G-8. There have been talks of BRICS introducing its own currency as well. However, the same has not materialised yet.
BRICS: India’s Role in the Changing World Scenario
Even though BRICS has a lot of issues of its own to resolve effectively as soon as possible (slowdown of various member economies such as China, constant war engagements by member nations, serious international sanction hanging over the heads of Iran and Russia, bilateral and multilateral engagements being a no-show most of the times, declaration acted upon a bit slowly, et al); it still possesses a long list of measures that can be taken up for speedy resolution of all these issues. These may include wider geo-political arrangements, heightened multilateral and bilateral activities within member nations, digital push (India’s digital economy can be possible front- runner in the same), growth in upcoming cyber and anti-terrorism sectors, et al.
BBC sources and other news reports (July 7, 2025) have reported that Trump has triumphantly and as a warning stated that, as a part of his ongoing crackdown on “lopsided trade deals of USA with other world nations” an extra 10% tariff will be imposed by the American side on nations who have a tendency, who are, or who will be in future siding with the BRICS nations, on any issues, especially economic and trade-related. In his own words, “Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of the BRICS alliance that go against US interests will hit with an extra 10% tariff”. However, this does seem unfair if analysed neutrally, and can endanger global relationships, ongoing trade deals, worsen the already panicking economic systems of the world, and imperil diplomatic silence creating unmanageable chaos.
India, on the one hand is in the process of finalising a painstakingly negotiated trade deal with the USA, and on the other is also pushing for a harmonious synergy between America and the BRICS. This howsoever, is easier said than done. India will surely have to balance both the issues through well-negotiated diplomatic engagements and well-thought out processes that can result in better results both for India and the USA. This will not only aid in allaying fears of our American counterpart with respect to BRICS, but will also enhance the Indian image in the eyes of her global counterparts as a VishwaGuru-by all means.
