From partnership to shared prosperity: Why greater BRICS matters for India and the world economy

Editor's note: Tang Song is tutor for Oxford University's PPE undergraduate course "Politics of South Asia," and PhD candidate in South Asian Studies at Oxford University. This article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN. 

Greater BRICS matters because it can turn political partnership into practical development. This link was visible in New Delhi. Leaders of China and India agreed that the two countries should be partners rather than rivals. They also called for economic and trade concerns to be addressed in a balanced manner and for direct connectivity and exchanges to expand.

These commitments matter economically. More stable relations reduce uncertainty for businesses, keep official channels open and create better conditions for trade, investment and supply-chain cooperation. The economic foundation is already substantial. At the opening session of the BRICS Business Forum, Indian Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal noted that intra-BRICS trade had risen from $84 billion in 2003 to nearly $1.2 trillion in 2024.

The test for Greater BRICS is whether this growing connectivity produces tangible gains: affordable infrastructure, more reliable supply chains, and access to new technologies. India's experience shows how this can work.

For many developing countries, the immediate constraint is a shortage of affordable, long-term finance. The UN's 2026 Financing for Sustainable Development Report estimates an annual Sustainable Development Goal financing gap of more than $4 trillion. Some 3.4 billion people live in countries where governments spend more on interest payments than on either health or education. Higher financing costs therefore mean fewer clinics, weaker transport systems, and delayed investment in clean energy.

BRICS can help address this gap in two ways: by widening trade and investment links, which would allow countries to diversify markets and suppliers, and by expanding access to development finance. These measures carry crucial significance when protectionism and geopolitical tensions are fragmenting the world economy.

The New Development Bank provides a concrete example. By June 2026, it had approved 35 infrastructure projects in India worth $10.5 billion, making India its second-largest recipient of financing.

These projects cover a wide range of fields such as transport, renewable energy, water, and sanitation. The NDB-supported Delhi–Ghaziabad–Meerut rapid rail system has reduced travel time along its 82-kilometer corridor from as much as three or four hours by road to approximately 55 minutes. The impact extends beyond the rail: faster regional transport also improves access to employment, education, and public services.

Economic ties between India and China offer another channel. Indian government data recorded bilateral goods trade at approximately $151 billion in the 2025-26 financial year. At their New Delhi meeting, the two leaders noted that bilateral trade had reached a new high and called for economic and trade concerns to be addressed in a balanced manner. India's commerce minister has identified pharmaceuticals, agriculture, engineering, electronics, services, startups, and emerging technologies as promising areas for deeper BRICS cooperation.

With its expanded membership, BRICS now accounts for approximately 49.5% of the world's population, 40% of global GDP and 26% of global trade. Greater BRICS also connects countries with different but potentially complementary strengths: manufacturing and technology, energy and critical minerals, agriculture, financial resources, skilled workforces, and expanding consumer markets. The opportunity is to turn these differences into practical cooperation.

At the 2026 BRICS Summit, China called for deeper cooperation in artificial intelligence, new industrialization, and industrial and supply chains. Co-development and joint research can help countries adapt new technologies to local conditions rather than simply import solutions designed elsewhere. For developing economies in particular, this could widen access to technologies that support digital transformation and industrial upgrading.

BRICS members should continue to expand affordable finance, improve infrastructure, strengthen supply-chain resilience and share the benefits of technological innovation. China's BRICS chair in 2027 can provide continuity for this work. Within that effort, a more stable and productive China-India relationship would become a powerful source of development and stability far beyond their borders.