India hosts the 17th BRICS Summit in New Delhi next month, with a shift in geopolitics, an imbalance in geoeconomics and challenges to the rule-based multilateral system.
While major powers push for global hegemony, developing economies are looking for greater autonomy and space for their economic and diplomatic decisions. India’s leadership of the movement will seek to advance the core objectives of BRICS for coherence and address misperceptions. India will outline a positive agenda for BRICS that promotes growth and development, advances reforms in global governance, and responds effectively to the opportunities and challenges of our times.
The importance of BRICS in the globalised world stems from its size and geographic spread, control of and access to global resources, presence in global manufacturing and logistics networks, and progress in technology and innovation. BRICS countries represent almost half the global population, over half of global manufacturing, a quarter of merchandise trade, a third of global GDP, a strong presence in energy resources, and an overwhelming share of critical materials. It is estimated that over half of global GDP growth comes from BRICS countries.
As major emerging powers, they have also supported other developing countries in their regions, discussed urgent global issues such as climate change, health, terrorism, debt and evolved strategies to advance a multipolar world through practical measures.
An initial indication of how India will host the Summit suggests a “humanity first” and “people-centred” approach. The theme will focus on “Building for resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability”. The approach is grounded in the spirit of cooperation to address shared challenges in a balanced and inclusive manner and underscores the importance of strengthening capacities, promoting innovation, and ensuring sustainable development for the benefit of all.
One such measure being spearheaded by India - and first revealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 - is the country’s policy towards the Indian Ocean Region (IOR): SAGAR – Security and Growth for All in the Region.
The Indian Ocean, Modi highlighted, was critical to the future of the world, bearing two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, one-third of its bulk cargo, and half of its container traffic. The SAGAR policy emphasises five aspects: safety and security of the Indian mainland and island territories and ensuring a safe, secure, and stable IOR; deepening economic and security cooperation with friends in the IOR, particularly maritime neighbors and island states, through capacity building; collective action and cooperation; seeking a more integrated and cooperative future towards sustainable development for all; and increased maritime engagement in the IOR, as the primary responsibility for the stability and prosperity of the IOR lay with those living in the region.
India has a long history of development partnership going back to the period prior to its independence.
Modi reflected on this view on partnership in his address to the Ugandan Parliament in 2018 saying: “Our developmental partnership will be guided by your priorities, it will be on terms that will be comfortable for you, that will liberate your potential and not constrain your future…”
India has helped shape the BRICS vision and ethos, with politics and security, economic development, and cultural exchanges as the fundamental pillars of BRICS cooperation. The Indian way has also entrenched the role of consensus in agenda-setting and decision-making, while a focus on concrete projects has contributed to functional cooperation across sectors.
Under India’s leadership in 2012, 2016 and 2021, BRICS made significant progress in promoting cooperation in key sectors such as agriculture and industry, trade and investment, technology and innovation, green energy and climate change, HADR response, and people-to-people exchanges.
But SAGAR extends beyond mere rhetoric over partnerships towards the actualisation of these goals. It offers maritime security through the safeguarding of coastal territories and vital sea lanes against piracy, terrorism, and illegal fishing; capacity building by strengthening the naval and surveillance capabilities of partner nations through training and equipment; the coordinating of rapid responses to natural disasters and regional emergencies; sustainable development through the promotion of the Blue Economy to use marine resources responsibly without harming the environment and deepened engagement by fostering mutual trust and peaceful dialogue under international maritime laws.
And so SAGAR has since expanded into MAHA (Mutual and Holistic Advancement) SAGAR, broadening the original vision to the entire Global South and allowing for the integration of broader economic diplomacy, technology sharing, and digital connectivity.
This has allowed the Indian Navy to emerge as a central instrument of India’s expanding maritime outreach with increased naval deployments, exercises and humanitarian missions, increasingly shaping how India engages partners across the Indian Ocean and the wider Global South.
The shift reflects the growing importance of sea routes in global commerce. Nearly two-thirds of global trade moves through the Indo-Pacific maritime corridor, while about 90 per cent of India’s trade travels by sea.
The MAHASAGAR vision is poised to further enhance India’s role in fostering cooperation in the region and demonstrates India’s willingness to continue cooperating with the Global South on issues of mutual interest.
* Professor Govender is an academic and a keen observer of issues related to international relations.