BRICS Summit: Geopolitical and Financial Perspectives

The 18th BRICS summit was held in New Delhi on September 12-13. Conceived by Goldman Sachs in 2001, BRIC consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China was formally launched in 2009. South Africa was added in 2010, transforming it into BRICS. Its creation was partly in a response to the financial crisis of 2008-09. BRICS has ten full members and ten partner countries. Saudi Arabia was invited to join the bloc, but has neither formally accepted nor rejected the invitation. It was expanded in 2024. BRICS currently has ten full members. The five newer members are Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, and ten partner countries include Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Expansion has given BRICS a greater economic and diplomatic weight. However, diverse membership also brings contentious geopolitical issues on the table, making it difficult to reach consensus. Together, these countries represent half of the world population, approximately 4.5 billion people, and 40% of the global GDP. China accounts for a large portion of this total.