National security advisers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) and beyond met in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss “non-traditional security challenges,” including the risks posed by new technologies, according to India’s foreign ministry.
BRICS has expanded over the last two years, now counting Egypt, Indonesia, and Iran as members, among others. Together, the expanded ‘BRICS+’ accounts for roughly half of the world’s population and 40 per cent of global GDP.
This week, India’s Ajit Doval hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and other delegates. Doval and Wang met on the sidelines of the meeting.
The meetings, held just a week after the G7 leaders’ summit in France, highlight India’s ability to straddle both major geopolitical blocs. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this year’s BRICS+ chair, was one of a handful of leaders invited to the G7 summit by French President Emmanuel Macron. The middle of the Venn diagram between G7 and BRICS+ countries is narrow (Brazil and Egypt were invited to the G7, too), and New Delhi is taking advantage of its privileged position by inking deals spanning trade, investment, innovation, and more with countries in both camps, fortifying itself against economic coercion and tariffs.
New Delhi will host BRICS+ leaders in September. It remains unclear if 73-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend, or if he will send China’s premier in his place. If Xi does attend, it’ll bode well for China–India relations, which have improved of late, with both sides targeting “gradual normalization” following deadly border skirmishes in 2020.
