India, along with four large emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa—represent the shifting centre of gravity of the world economy (O’Neill 2001 and 2011; NDB,2017); Baracuhy, 2012). At the turn of the century, these economies triggered awe for the rapid pace of expansion of their economies, especially China. The economic recession of the last years of the previous decade slowed global growth, but BRICS showed substantial resilience. India has become the fastest growing large economy globally. While growth in China seems to be stabilising, and Brazil, Russia and South Africa are facing contraction due to falling commodity prices globally, India is slated to maintain its average high economic growth rate.
In this decade, BRICS increasingly institutionalised its cooperation platforms at the level of ministers, officials (in the form of annual dialogue processes and committees) across a comprehensive array of issues, culminating into Annual Summits of BRICS Heads of Governments. BRICS has also encouraged deeper track two academic engagements and people to people linkages. BRICS institution building efforts and formalised mechanisms of cooperation have played important role in strengthening BRICS partnership so far. Apart from the creation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the introduction of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), BRICS has also adopted the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership. India has played an important role in proposing and in working with other members towards creating alternate institutions of global finance and for better coordination of macroeconomic management globally to prevent and respond to future crisis. BRICS has successfully launched the New Development Bank and has proposed creation of a BRICS Credit Rating Agency. To cater to future needs in development and sustainability, BRICS has established an Agriculture Research Platform. We observe that India offered ideas and support for the creation of such institutions in BRICS to fulfil the following objectives: 1) collectively influence global financial architecture; 2) create alternate financial institutions based on principles of greater equality; 3) create sector specific collaboration platforms on development and security; and 4) to use such platforms to leverage the BRICS advantage for domestic economic growth. In this regard, we would discuss three specific institution building efforts in BRICS.
However, unlike in the case of institution building and institutional approaches in sector specific cooperation, BRICS countries are confronting challenges in context of their approach to global governance, which has so far focused primarily on global financial architecture with much less coordination and coherence in approaches on global trade, 1 technology and environmental regimes. The Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership statement pays less substantive attention to outstanding issues under multilateral trade negotiations or other specific themes of global economic governance that have multilateral significance. This, we presume, would result in partial gains for its members. We see BRICS as incomplete, or even faltering on issues that relate to wider and comprehensive dimensions of cooperation on global economic governance at a time when such a strategy is imminently required to fortify the space for economic growth in BRICS and in the South. Further, questions have been raised in academic forums on the willingness and maturity of BRICS to deliver on the foundational idea of multi-polarity and enhanced commitment for creating mutual space for leadership and role in the world order. The fact that BRICS could emerge is also attributed to gradual integration with the world economy, favorable structural transformation and productivity growth, and the ability to meaning fully leverage the opportunities of 2 internationalisation keeping in mind issues of sectoral competitiveness. Overtime, BRICS countries have demonstrated significant leadership on trade multilateralism, managing capital flows etcetera to the extent that these countries see opportunities in globalisation. Member countries in BRICS, nevertheless, have to create space for manoeuvrability to overcome situations when their economic interests are not aligned. For example, India faces the challenge of leading a coordinated approach on market access, excess capacity, technology transfer, industrial development and sector specific issues as actions by China are adversely affecting its own national policy making space.
