America is not a member of BRICS, but the influence of President Donald Trump can be seen in the BRICS Summit to be held in Delhi on 12 and 13 September.
Leaders of 11 countries will participate in the summit. This includes hosts India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Russia, Brazil, Iran and UAE.
Saudi Arabia will also join it as an invited member. These countries will discuss many important issues, but the impact of President Trump's policies may be the most important among all these issues.
The Iran war and the threat of US tariffs destabilized the global energy market for America's enemies and its allies. Due to this, there is constant uncertainty about the future of the global economy.
Amidst this environment, the countries included in BRICS are holding a summit. However, it is unlikely that BRICS will issue a joint statement openly criticizing the US or formulate a joint strategy to counter Trump's policies and geopolitics.
This is also because the countries included in BRICS are divided on how far they should go to compete with America.
Michael Kugelman, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told the BBC, "India cannot afford to issue a joint statement that criticizes the US."
Kugelman believes that criticism of American policies will not be explicit or direct. This is because after the expansion of BRICS, the interests of the countries involved are quite different from each other.
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On one hand, Russia and Iran would like BRICS to take a more clear stand against President Trump. But this will be difficult to do due to geopolitical reality among the countries included in BRICS.
Reports have also come that India is in the final stages of making a trade deal with America. In such a situation, he would not want any such statement which would anger America. China may also not want to show that it is using BRICS to target America.
At the same time, if we talk about UAE, Iran attacked it in response to the attack by America and Israel. There are also American military bases in UAE. For this reason, it is difficult to support any such statement which would benefit Iran.
Kugelman says that after the expansion of BRICS, this group has become more important, but it has also become difficult to form a consensus among all the countries involved.
According to Kugelman, many countries have joined which do not have good relations with each other. He said that the challenge before India is that it has to bring together such countries which have very different attitudes towards the global order.
US President Donald Trump has been continuously speaking against BRICS.
Especially regarding the efforts of BRICS to reduce the dependence on the US dollar in trade across the world. Generally this is called moving away from the dollar or 'de-dollarization'.
What can BRICS achieve?
Trump has warned BRICS many times. Especially regarding any new currency as an alternative to the US dollar or any step to reduce the dominance of the dollar in global trade.
In November 2024, Trump had said that if the BRICS countries support any other currency instead of the strong US dollar, then 100 percent tariff will be imposed on them.
In such a situation, the question is what can BRICS achieve?
The geopolitical and economic power of BRICS has increased significantly in the last decade. However, the group will avoid taking an open stance against America or Western countries.
Despite this, BRICS will take forward its achievements so far and try to show that it can emerge as an alternative to groups like G-20 and G-7.
According to the analysis of BBC Monitoring, 49 percent of the world's population lives in the countries included in BRICS. This group represents 40 percent of the world's GDP and 26 percent of international trade.
The biggest achievement of BRICS is the New Development Bank. This bank has approved billions of dollars for projects related to infrastructure and development. Many of these projects are in the Global South i.e. developing countries.
The group has also created a reserve fund of $100 billion to help member countries facing financial crisis. However, it has not been used yet.
BRICS leaders can also discuss ways to ease payments between countries in local currencies. Russia and Iran will have special interest in this, because both are facing tough US sanctions.
What is the opportunity for India?
BRICS will continue to present itself as standing up for developing countries. This group will also demand reforms in institutions like the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Many developing countries believe that this organization does not accurately reflect today's changing global system.
Especially for India, this summit is an opportunity to strengthen its claim to lead the Global South.
Many of India's foreign policy priorities match the BRICS agenda. These include efforts to make the multilateral system, a more multipolar world, greater representation of developing countries and more open global trade.
But India will also have to find a way between China's huge influence within BRICS and its increasing presence in developing countries.
The Modi government has placed great emphasis on becoming a leader or voice of the Global South, but Kugelman says efforts to expand India's reach in Africa and Latin America have met with limited success. China has been more successful than India in these areas.
Most of the BRICS member countries are developing economies. Kugelman says that the expansion of BRICS gives India an opportunity to strengthen relations with countries like Ethiopia, Brazil and Indonesia and to increase its presence in Africa as well as Latin America.
The real test for India will be whether it can issue a joint statement with the consent of all the member countries. It is often considered a measure of the diplomatic success of the host country.
But there are deep differences between the countries regarding the Iran war, relations with America and the future of global trade. In such a situation, it will be difficult to agree on a common statement.
This challenge was anticipated in May itself. At that time, due to differences between the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries regarding the Iran war, there was no consensus on a joint statement. After this, host India released the summary of the meeting.
India's experience of hosting the G20 in 2023 will be useful. Even at that time, there were deep differences between the countries regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, but India was successful in issuing a joint statement.
But India would also like important announcements to be made and would also like to highlight the achievements of BRICS so far. Member countries will probably agree on this issue. No one would want BRICS to be dismissed as merely a 'talking platform'.
The countries joining BRICS can talk about ways to increase financial cooperation and some big announcements can also be made. They will also discuss major issues of the world. Such words will be used in the statement regarding America, which will not lead to direct conflict with America. At the same time, America will also keep a close eye on this meeting.
Many important bilateral meetings will also be held in this summit. Everyone's eyes will be on the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
India and China are gradually improving their relations, but the progress so far has not been as fast as both countries had expected.
PM Modi has also met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Modi had appealed to Putin for peace during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Bishkek last month.
Some people saw his statement as a criticism of Russia, but Russia did not take it that way. Russia publicly welcomed Modi's peace efforts.
Apart from geopolitics, India's increasing trade deficit with Russia and China can also be an important issue in the talks with both the countries.
But ultimately, the focus of BRICS will be on having a successful summit. This is because this will further strengthen the influence of BRICS.
Especially at a time when India is trying to strengthen its influence at the international level. Kugelman says that there is a lot at stake for India in this summit.
We used AI to translate this article, which was originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked this translation before publication. Learn more about how we're using AI.
