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India and the 16th BRICS Summit: Interests and Agendas

Aleena T Sabu at
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India PM Narendra Modi at Kazan, Russia for the 16th BRICS Summit

Over the last couple of years, BRICS has emerged as a key political force in the global world and the recent summit held from the 22nd to the 24th of October in Kazan marks the 16th Annual summit.

The BRICS 2024 summit brought together nations from almost 30 countries, marking the significance of BRICS nations as important stakeholders in the global world. The bloc had Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as its members from 2010, while other nations such as Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Iran had joined recently. It was important for BRICS nations to reinforce their growing importance in the world and balance Western influence.

This year’s summit focused on prioritising collaboration and cooperation in politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties (Briefing 2024). There were many key bilateral and multilateral talks between nations on the sidelines of the summit also, and it concluded with the announcement of the Kazan declaration, which favoured strengthening the multilateralism of the BRICS nations. This article will analyse the key areas of India’s interest at the summit.

Indo-Sino Relations

The BRICS summit was key to India and China’s agreement to resolve tensions and move towards a peaceful relationship with each other. India and China have not formally met for the past five years, and the bilateral meeting was significant for both countries in ensuring peace and prosperity in the long run.

The formal dialogue led to agreements to restart patrolling along the Line of Actual Control. Mr Modi and Mr Xi Jinping agreed that maintaining a good relationship between India and China is crucial not only for their citizens but also for global peace and security. 

Indo-Iranian Dealings

Mr. Modi had also taken the opportunity to hold conversations with Iran’s newly elected President, Masoud Pezeshkian. They spoke about the war in Gaza and the need to engage in peace. A key discussion between the two leaders was about the Chabahar Port and its role in bringing together India, Iran, and other neighbouring countries. They also spoke about the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and its strategic importance in the world.

Indo-Russo Partnership

Another key bilateral meeting was between India and Russia. Both nations utilized this summit to talk about politics, defence, energy, and cultural aspects. Modi had also taken the opportunity to invite Putin to the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. Peaceful and strategic partnerships between both nations are necessary for economic prosperity and geopolitical stability.

Russia is an important player in global power politics. Maintaining a strong friendship with Russia is crucial to India’s economy, defence, energy and geopolitical needs. Putin has called India a “natural power” and “greatest ally”. He remarked that India’s and Russia’s trade had reached almost USD 60 billion.

There were also conversations on defence partnerships wherein the BrahMos missile project was highlighted to showcase India’s and Russia’s mutual respect and trust in each other. Both leaders interacted with each other in multilateral meetings and reaffirmed their strategic partnership in the global world through discussions on trade, economy and defence. (Briefing 2024).

Russia’s Positioning

This summit was crucial for Russia in the wake of the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine and isolation from the Western nations. The summit marked an important arena for Russia to showcase its strongest allies and put forward various economic agendas. An important move in this direction is to avoid dollar transactions and use either direct currencies for trade or explore other systems like SWIFT, for trade between the BRICS nations (Pti 2024).

While India has not actively spoken of the new system, S. Jai Shanker, Minister for External Affairs, India explained that India has no part in the intended de-dollarisation agenda. At the same time, India is always open to exploring other transactional options whenever a difficulty arises with dollar transactions among business partners.

Global Role of BRICS

The BRICS summit was also a crucial step in establishing the BRICS’s role in the global order. Until a decade ago, BRICS nations were not seen as a threat to the Western order, but the same cannot be said about the status of BRICS nations now. Ten years before, the BRICS nations only held 1/3 of the world’s population, 25 percent of the world’s GDP, and 18 percent of global trade. Whereas now, they hold almost half of the world’s population, 38% of the global GDP, and 40% of global trade.

This summit pushed forward the idea of multilateralism and voiced the concerns of countries in the global south. The Kazan Declaration’s focus was on amplifying the voices of the global south, and their perspectives on global issues were put forward.

Digitalisation and Cross-Border Terrorism

Promoting digitalisation and technological cooperation was also a highly discussed topic at the summit, and this is highly beneficial for India to push forward its Digital India Initiative. The importance of digital health and medicine was also discussed by members.

The summit also discussed cross-border terrorism, an important area of concern for India. It spoke about India’s Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), and the summit supported India’s role in combatting terrorism and called for proper action to be taken against terrorists listed by the United Nations. 

The India-Turkey Agenda

During the summit, there was the spread of a fake rumour that India had rejected Turkey’s membership in BRICS. This news came into the limelight after being shared over 3 million times on X (formerly Twitter). The article by a German news organisation named Bild claimed that India had vetoed Turkey’s membership in BRICS because of the latter’s friendship with Pakistan. However, upon fact check, the news was found to be false as no such voting had taken place at the summit, and the members in consensus agreed not to take any members in.

Turkey long has favoured Pakistan, and has even spoken about the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly, until the very recent UNGA meeting in September 2024(Roy 2024). Hence, this fake news does not come as a surprise because Turkey is applying to be a BRICS member and needs India’s support as well. Both nations have to address their varying stands along with their implications for amicable relations between them.

Donald Trump and the U.S.

With Donald Trump back in power, the so-called de-dollarisation agenda might not work as expected since the dollar has stabilised and the stock markets have surged. The BRICS countries now have to collaborate more with each other to reduce their dependency on the Western nations and also increase their economic growth.

If Trump implements any of his economic policies, the repercussions would be felt around the world. For example, Trump’s plan to increase the tariffs on imports could affect the BRICS nations in terms of their imports and trade. Trump’s agenda of “Making America Great Again” might push the BRICS nations to be dependent on each other more.

The BRICS 2024 Summit at Kazan, Russia highlighted India’s strong commitment to multilateralism, addressing cross-border terrorism, digitalisation and creating better ties with China and Russia. It served as a platform for India to emerge as a key player in leadership roles outside the Western world, while also maintaining its ties with the Western nations outside of BRICS. This summit was crucial for India to venture out and strengthen its influence across the globe.

References:

Aleena T. Sabu, is a Research Associate at Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.

 

Aleena T Sabu
Associate, Research at CPPR |  + posts

Aleena is an Research Associate of the International Relations vertical at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi, Kerala, India. She is currently working on the Indian Coastal Think Tank Network project and had previously worked on a paper with Vice Admiral MP Muralidharn on the Global Security Implications of the Bay of Bengal.

Aleena has completed her Master’s in Politics and International Relations from Pondicherry University and Bachelor’s in Political Science (Hons) from Delhi University.

Aleena T Sabu
Aleena T Sabu

Aleena is an Research Associate of the International Relations vertical at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi, Kerala, India. She is currently working on the Indian Coastal Think Tank Network project and had previously worked on a paper with Vice Admiral MP Muralidharn on the Global Security Implications of the Bay of Bengal.

Aleena has completed her Master’s in Politics and International Relations from Pondicherry University and Bachelor’s in Political Science (Hons) from Delhi University.

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