{"id":25237,"date":"2026-09-13T10:16:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=25237"},"modified":"2026-09-13T10:16:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:31:35","slug":"25-countries-many-identities-one-shared-future-diversity-emerges-as-a-strength-of-cooperation-at-the-new-delhi-brics-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=25237","title":{"rendered":"25 Countries, Many Identities, One Shared Future: Diversity Emerges as a Strength of Cooperation at the New Delhi BRICS Summit<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dragon Media News Desk<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi has gone far beyond a gathering of the grouping\u2019s 11 full members. Under the 2026 structure, BRICS brings together 11 full members and 10 partner countries, meaning 21 states are formally connected to the grouping. With India also inviting countries representing major regional organizations to the summit dialogue, the number of distinct countries represented in New Delhi has reached 25. Participation by leaders of international institutions has further transformed the summit into a broad, multi-layered platform for global dialogue.<\/p>\n

The 11 full BRICS members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries form the central decision-making structure of BRICS and participate directly in shaping cooperation on political and security affairs, economics and finance, trade, technology, development and people-to-people relations.<\/p>\n

Alongside them are 10 partner countries: Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Partner countries are not full members, but the arrangement provides them with an institutional channel to participate in various BRICS dialogues, programs and practical cooperation. This structure enables developing countries to expand engagement with BRICS in trade, investment, technology and development without immediately becoming full members.<\/p>\n

India has broadened the New Delhi summit further by involving countries representing important regional organizations. The Philippines has represented ASEAN, Burundi the African Union, Bahrain the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Uruguay the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Kazakhstan has also represented the Eurasian Economic Union while already being a BRICS partner country. Avoiding double counting, this wider format brings representation from 25 distinct countries.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most striking feature of these 25 countries is precisely that they are not alike. China and India are enormous population centers, industrial economies and consumer markets. Russia is a major energy, mineral, defense and scientific power. Brazil is a global force in agriculture, food production, minerals and biodiversity, while South Africa remains an important industrial and financial center on the African continent. Indonesia contributes the scale of Southeast Asia\u2019s largest economy and a major maritime nation.<\/p>\n

The Middle Eastern participants bring another set of strengths. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hold major positions in global energy markets while possessing substantial investment capacity and ambitious economic diversification programs. Iran combines large energy resources with an established industrial base and strategically important geography. Egypt connects Africa, the Arab world and the Mediterranean while occupying a unique place in global trade through the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n

African participation presents an equally diverse picture. South Africa contributes advanced financial and industrial capacity, while Ethiopia brings the diplomatic importance of East Africa and the headquarters of the African Union. Nigeria represents the continent\u2019s enormous demographic scale, energy resources and expanding digital entrepreneurship. Uganda and Burundi bring the perspectives of developing economies where agriculture, youth employment, infrastructure and basic industrialization remain major priorities.<\/p>\n

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan add the distinctive concerns of Central Asia. Their importance lies in energy, critical minerals and overland connectivity. For landlocked economies, new trade corridors connecting China, Russia, India, Iran and Europe are especially important. Their participation broadens the BRICS agenda beyond maritime trade toward the wider geography of Eurasian land connectivity.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asia also demonstrates striking diversity. Indonesia is a full BRICS member, while Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam participate as partner countries. The Philippines has joined the summit dialogue in its role as ASEAN chair. Together, these countries bring different strengths in global manufacturing networks, electronics, semiconductors, tourism, the digital economy, food production and maritime trade.<\/p>\n

There are also significant differences in political orientation and diplomatic relationships. Some participating countries maintain deep security and economic ties with the United States and Europe, while others have particularly close relations with Russia and China. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and several others pursue multidirectional foreign policies designed to preserve strategic flexibility.<\/p>\n

This diversity helps explain why BRICS is not a military alliance. Its distinctive character lies in bringing countries with different political systems, strategic relationships and foreign-policy traditions to the same table to cooperate on economic and development issues.<\/p>\n

Their economic structures are equally different. Some are major exporters of oil and natural gas, while others are among the world\u2019s largest energy consumers. Several are leading industrial and technological powers, while others are still in the early or intermediate stages of industrialization. Some economies are advancing rapidly in artificial intelligence, digital payments and high technology, while others continue to prioritize roads, electricity, irrigation, healthcare and educational infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Yet these differences may become one of the expanded BRICS framework\u2019s greatest strengths. Energy producers can cooperate with economies facing rising energy demand. Mineral-rich states need technology and investment, while industrial economies require secure supplies of raw materials and access to new markets. Agricultural powers can contribute to food security, while digitally advanced countries can share technology and experience in modernizing public services.<\/p>\n

Another distinctive feature of BRICS is its ability to create space for economies of very different sizes within the same dialogue. The presence of enormous economies such as China and India alongside smaller developing countries such as Uganda, Burundi and Bolivia sends an important message: multipolarity cannot be meaningful if it becomes merely another arrangement among major powers.<\/p>\n

The representation of the Global South becomes more credible when countries with different populations, geographies, economic structures and levels of development are also able to participate and make their priorities heard.<\/p>\n

For this reason, the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi should not be understood simply as an expansion in numbers. Its broader significance lies in bringing together 11 full members, 10 partner countries and representatives of major regional organizations within a single dialogue architecture. Twenty-one countries are directly connected to BRICS through membership or partner status, while the wider New Delhi format has brought representation from 25 distinct states.<\/p>\n

The positive message from New Delhi is therefore clear. These countries differ in political systems, economic capacity, foreign-policy orientation, geography and development levels, but they share important concerns: food and energy security, trade, technology, climate change, infrastructure, financial reform and stronger representation in global governance.<\/p>\n

The future strength of an expanded BRICS may therefore lie not in eliminating differences, but in turning those differences into complementary capacities. If countries with different resources, markets, technologies and development experiences can cooperate on the basis of mutual benefit, diversity itself could become one of BRICS\u2019 most valuable strategic assets.<\/p>\n

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