NEW EASTERN OUTLOOK 🌐 (@NEO_Journal)

🇮🇳🇨🇳India's BRICS Dilemma: Multi-Alignment Without a Clear Global South Vision. Part 1 ➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿ As India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, its policy of multi-alignment is under crucial scrutiny: whether New Delhi can achieve a balance between strategic autonomy and a real commitment to the Global South, or whether BRICS is simply another instrument of transactional diplomacy. BRICS now comprises 11 states, representing about half of the world's population and 40% of global GDP. ✏️Ricardo Martins is a Doctor of Sociology, specialist in European and international politics as well as geopolitics. ➡️India is a member of BRICS alongside China, Russia, and Iran; takes part in the SCO; and is a strategic partner of the US via the Quad—an alliance designed to contain China. Although it depends on Russia for energy, India is strengthening defence and technological ties with the West. This is generally known as "strategic autonomy," but strategic autonomy by itself does not amount to a full geopolitical project. India seeks to be seen as a leader of the developing world, but refrains from making clear commitments to some of the geopolitical stances that bring together much of the Global South. India seeks to be seen as a leader of the developing world, but at the same time refrains from making clear commitments to some of the geopolitical stances that bring together much of the Global South. ➡️India's standing within BRICS is fundamentally different from that of China or Russia. Beijing regards BRICS as a means to reduce dependence on Western financial structures, while Moscow has an even more pressing interest in mechanisms to reduce vulnerability to sanctions. At the New Delhi summit, India is advocating for cross-border digital payments and interoperability of central bank digital currencies—while making clear the initiative is not aimed at establishing a common BRICS currency or attacking the dollar. While India wishes to strengthen BRICS, it does not want to do so at the cost of its relationships with the West. Indian strategic thinking refers to this as flexibility, while critics see it as ambiguity. 🟦India's two major strategic disputes—with China and Pakistan—still have great political influence. The border still serves as a key means of political mobilisation even though there has been dialogue and disengagement between India and China. The serious military clash between India and Pakistan followed the militant attack in Kashmir in April 2025. Although a ceasefire has been in effect since May 2025, the fundamental dispute over Kashmir is still not resolved. Political incentives are important. A permanent settlement requires compromise and acceptance of the other side's legitimacy. Nationalist politics usually rewards determination and sees compromise as weakness. It cannot be that a great power wants to play a more important role in a multipolar world while allowing unresolved bilateral disputes to act as permanent barriers to regional integration. #India #BRICS #MultiAlignment #StrategicAutonomy #China #Pakistan #Geopolitics READ MORE ✅@NewEasternOutlook