“BRICS acts as a powerful counterweight in global governance, actively amplifying the voice and influence of the Global South.” Explain the role of BRICS in projecting itself as an alternative to other groupings.
🧭 How to think about this question · directive: “explain”
Decode the demand
- Directive 'explain': show how and why, with evidence; the quotation is a claim, so you must show how BRICS earns the words 'counterweight' and 'voice of the Global South'.
- The issue in one line: a grouping born in 2009 as four economies now has 11 members, its own bank and a reform agenda aimed at Western-led institutions.
- Three things to answer: how it acts as a counterweight and amplifies the South; how it projects itself as an alternative to groupings like the G7; how far the projection holds.
- The trap: listing summits and members. The examiner wants the features that make it 'alternative': no hegemon, own institutions, reform agenda, plus the honest limits.
Think in a structure
- Open with the growth from four to eleven and India's 2026 chair, then name the three legs of the counterweight claim.
- One heading per demand part: counterweight and voice; projection as an alternative (a G7 vs BRICS table does the work); limits in one short block.
- End from India's chair: concrete measures the 2026 presidency can deliver, then a constitutional anchor (Article 51) so the conclusion is India's, not a slogan.
Facts checked at source (5)· open
- PIB's New India Samachar (February 2026): BRICS brings together 11 major emerging economies.BRICS 2026 under India's Chairmanship - New India Samachar (PIB), 1-15 February 2026, p. 9 ↗“brings together 11 major emerging economies”
- The newly included BRICS members are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia.BRICS 2026 under India's Chairmanship - New India Samachar (PIB), 1-15 February 2026, p. 9 ↗“The newly included countries are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and Indonesia.”
- India chairs BRICS in 2026.BRICS 2026 under India's Chairmanship - New India Samachar (PIB), 1-15 February 2026, p. 9 ↗“India is set to chair the BRICS summit in 2026.”
- India approaches its 2026 BRICS chairship with a 'humanity first' and 'people-centric' approach.BRICS 2026 under India's Chairmanship - New India Samachar (PIB), 1-15 February 2026, p. 9 ↗“Promoting DPI, fintech, AI, and ‘humanity first’ and ‘people-centric’ approach”
- The New Development Bank was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries to fund infrastructure and sustainable development in BRICS and other emerging economies.About NDB - New Development Bank ↗“Established in 2015 by BRICS countries, the New Development Bank is a multilateral development bank aimed at mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other EMDCs”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Guidance: Minimalist IAS, checked 8 Nov 2026 (how we verify). ·
Model answer· 421words · Minimalist IAS
From four economies at Yekaterinburg (2009), BRICS now 'brings together 11 major emerging economies', and India chairs it in 2026. Its counterweight claim rests on three legs: a reform voice, its own institutions and a model of grouping unlike the West's clubs.
- 2009: Yekaterinburg, first summit
- 2010: South Africa joins
- 2014: CRA agreed
- 2015: NDB opens
- 2026: 11 members, India chairs
Counterweight that amplifies the Global South
- Reform voice: presses for larger IMF and World Bank quotas and UN Security Council reform, where developing countries remain under-represented.
- Own institutions: the New Development Bank (2015) funds infrastructure and sustainable development; the CRA offers liquidity without Bretton Woods conditionality.
- Wider membership: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia now sit at the table, with a partner-country tier behind them.
- Southern agenda: local-currency settlement, food and energy security and climate justice, issues the G7 rarely puts first.
Projecting itself as an alternative to other groupings
| Feature | G7 | BRICS |
|---|---|---|
| Membership | Rich economies, closed | Large developing economies, expanding |
| Structure | Western-led, one anchor | No hegemon, no treaty, rotating chair |
| Institutions | Bretton Woods dominance | NDB and CRA |
- No hegemon, no treaty: decisions by consensus among equals, so smaller members are not bound by a leader's line.
- Reform, not revolt: India frames BRICS as non-Western, not anti-Western, a platform to reform institutions rather than replace them.
- Multiplex order: Amitav Acharya's idea of a world shaped by many actors fits BRICS better than Cold-War bloc thinking; members stay in the G20 and UN system.
How far the projection succeeds
- Rivalry inside: India–China border tension and China's economic weight blunt common positions.
- Diverse interests: Saudi Arabia and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia carry their own disputes into the room.
- Thin delivery: the NDB is small beside the World Bank, and de-dollarisation remains more slogan than settlement system.
What India's 2026 chairship can do
- Deliver projects: scale NDB lending in local currencies and fast-track approvals for the new members.
- Offer digital public goods: India's DPI and fintech stack as a BRICS public good, not a Chinese or Western one.
- India's chairship agenda lists DPI, fintech and AI with a 'humanity first', 'people-centric' approach (New India Samachar, 2026).
- Guard coherence: use the partner tier as a probation before full membership, so expansion widens voice without diluting decisions.
Article 51 directs the State to promote international peace and respect for international law; a BRICS that reforms the order rather than rejecting it, led by India's people-centric chair in 2026, is how the Global South's voice becomes one that is heard because it delivers.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 8 Nov 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
