BRICS has expanded far beyond its original membership, adding major emerging economies from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. That scale gives the grouping greater economic and diplomatic weight.
Expansion, however, makes consensus harder. China and Russia often favour a sharper geopolitical challenge to Western power, while India and Brazil have generally preferred a more flexible platform focused on reform, development and economic cooperation.
The central question for the New Delhi summit is therefore not how large BRICS can become, but whether it can build practical cooperation without forcing members into positions that conflict with their other strategic relationships.
