Is BRICS Losing Its Mojo?

When the low-key grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa announced a major expansion at a 2023 summit in Johannesburg, the wealthy West finally sat up and took notice.

By the time the dust had settled two years later, and 16 years on from its founding, BRICS counted 10 core members (up from five), with Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as new entrants. A lower tier of 10 “partner countries” was also announced.

But as leaders fly into New Delhi for its 18th annual summit on Sept. 12, an undercurrent of anxiety is in the air. What seemed like a triumphant coming-out of the global south—from which a vast majority of BRICS states are drawn—is starting to feel a little bit like a dysfunctional family getting together for Christmas (or Diwali). Host India has worked hard on its sumptuous agenda of “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” But, given the indigestion of its rapid expansion and its modest impact on the ground, the overarching question of where BRICS goes next looms.

BRICS’s troubles began almost immediately after the expansion was initiated. Most unexpectedly, they emerged from its African contingent. New members Egypt and Ethiopia refused to endorse South Africa as a member of a reformed U.N. Security Council (UNSC), despite the two states apparently having made a prior commitment to do so. In September 2024, a foreign ministers’ meeting failed to issue a joint statement, the first time this had ever happened for BRICS. The failure was repeated in the follow-on meeting in April 2025. (Since its 2011 summit, BRICS declarations have routinely included mention of South Africa, as well as Brazil and India, in connection with the group’s advocacy for U.N. reform.) Ultimately, the BRICS summit declaration later that year in Rio dropped any reference to South Africa, mentioning only Brazil and India in the paragraph on UNSC reform.