India & Multilateral Forums — UN, BRICS, SCO, Quad, G20 & Global Governance

India's Multilateral Strategy

India participates in all major multilateral forums while maintaining strategic autonomy — engaging simultaneously with Western-aligned (Quad, G7 outreach), non-Western (BRICS, SCO), and universal (UN, G20) institutions.

United Nations

India and the UN

UN Security Council Reform

For Mains: India's UNSC permanent seat claim rests on: (1) world's most populous country, (2) largest democracy, (3) top-5 economy, (4) top troop contributor to peacekeeping, (5) nuclear power, (6) UNSC reflects 1945 power structure, not 2026 reality. Counter-arguments: India has no veto experience, expanding P5 creates new rigidities, and regional representation is contested (why India and not Indonesia?).

BRICS

Key BRICS Institutions

BRICS Summits — Kazan 2024 and New Delhi 2026

For Mains: BRICS is increasingly seen as a counter-balance to Western-dominated institutions (IMF, World Bank, G7). India's challenge: it shares BRICS's demand for reformed global governance BUT has serious bilateral tensions with China (LAC standoff, trade deficit) and a growing strategic partnership with the USA (Quad). India must navigate BRICS without being pulled into a China-Russia axis. This balancing act is a premium Mains topic.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

India's Interests and Challenges in SCO

SCO Structure

India hosted the SCO summit in 2023 (virtual) and has used SCO platforms to push counter-terrorism norms and connectivity projects. However, India has refused to endorse China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) within SCO, as BRI's China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

At the 24th SCO Summit (Astana, 3–4 July 2024) India was represented by EAM S. Jaishankar rather than the Prime Minister. India adopted the Astana Declaration, alongside 25 strategic agreements, and used the platform to press counter-terrorism through the RATS mechanism, INSTC and Chabahar connectivity, and AI governance cooperation. Jaishankar's bilateral with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the summit margins was an important precursor to the October 2024 LAC agreement. The dedicated SCO chapter carries the summit record in full.

Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)

Quad Working Groups

Quad Summits

For Mains: The Quad's strategic value for India is as a China-balancing mechanism without formal military commitment. India benefits from technology access, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic weight. The risk: being perceived as joining a US-led anti-China bloc could compromise India's strategic autonomy, complicate relations with Russia, and provoke Chinese hostility. The key is India's insistence that Quad is "for something (free Indo-Pacific), not against someone (China)."

G20

India's G20 Presidency (2023) — Key Outcomes

For Mains: India's G20 presidency is considered a significant diplomatic success — achieving consensus on a leaders' declaration (which many expected to fail due to Russia-Ukraine language disputes), elevating the AU, mainstreaming DPI, and projecting India as a bridge between Global North and South. For a critical perspective, note that climate finance commitments remained inadequate and no binding outcomes on trade or debt.

G20 Summits Since India's Presidency

Rio de Janeiro, 18–19 November 2024. The 19th G20 Summit launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty (148 endorsers — 82 countries, the AU, the EU and 9 international financial institutions), adopted the Rio de Janeiro Declaration with its language on progressive taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and recognised the potential of the bioeconomy. PM Modi attended and reinforced India's Global South positioning, building on the New Delhi legacy.

Johannesburg, 22–23 November 2025 — the first G20 summit on African soil. South Africa held the presidency from 1 December 2024 to November 2025 under the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability."

Key outcomes:

• 122-point Johannesburg Declaration — focused on global equity, multilateral reform, and sustainable development.
• Partnership for African Infrastructure launched — a multi-billion dollar initiative for transport, energy, and digital connectivity across Africa.
• Africa Energy Efficiency Facility (AfEEF) — target: improve Africa's energy productivity by 12% by 2030, mobilise $3 billion by 2030.
• Commitments on anti-money laundering, illicit financial flows, an AI initiative for Africa, and a critical minerals framework.
• The USA did not participate; Xi Jinping and Putin sent delegations but did not attend in person.
• India attended; PM Modi reinforced Global South positioning and supported the African Infrastructure Partnership.

Other Key Forums

SAARC

BIMSTEC

ASEAN and East Asia Summit

I2U2

IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity)

Voice of Global South Summit

AI Impact Summit 2026 (New Delhi)

Indian Ocean Forums — MAHASAGAR, IORA, IONS, CSC

At Port Louis on 12 March 2025, PM Modi announced that India's vision for the Global South would go "beyond SAGAR" to MAHASAGAR — Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions — built on trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth and mutual security, delivered through technology sharing, concessional loans and grants. MAHASAGAR builds on the 2015 SAGAR vision (also launched in Mauritius) rather than replacing it, and in the same statement Modi named the Colombo Security Conclave, the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Indian Ocean Conference as the forums through which India would extend that cooperation. As of 22 September 2026 India chairs both IORA (2025–2027) and IONS (2026–2028), and holds the Colombo Security Conclave's first Secretary General post.

IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)

Two official figures diverge here: MEA's release of 21 May 2025 refers to "all 22 IORA Member States", while IORA's own homepage and member-states listing give 23, which is the figure to carry into an answer. On the chairship, no official document gives a handover date; MEA records only the two-year term, 2025–2027, and the 24th Council of Ministers recorded that India "will assume" the chair.

IONS (Indian Ocean Naval Symposium)

Colombo Security Conclave (CSC)

On Seychelles the two official accounts differ and both are worth knowing. MEA's release of 20 November 2025 records that Seychelles participated as an Observer State and that CSC members "welcomed the decision of Republic of Seychelles to accede to the CSC as a full member", which is a decision rather than a completed accession; the Maldives President's Office release of the same day describes Seychelles as having been inducted as an official member.

IBSA, NAM, Commonwealth and the G77

IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa)

NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)

India's level of representation at NAM meetings is itself a standard answer point: New Delhi stays engaged at ministerial and official level while investing its leaders' time in the groupings it chairs or hosts.

Commonwealth

G77

India-Anchored Global Initiatives

Alongside the forums it joins, India now hosts or co-leads a set of institutions it helped create. This is the strongest evidence for the "India as institution-builder" framing in Mains answers.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA)

Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA)

India's Multi-Alignment Strategy

For Mains: India's foreign policy is often described as "multi-alignment" rather than non-alignment. Unlike Cold War non-alignment (staying out of blocs), multi-alignment means actively engaging with all blocs simultaneously. This requires diplomatic agility — attending Quad one week and BRICS the next, buying Russian oil while deepening defence ties with the USA, opposing China on the border while cooperating in BRICS. The risk is strategic overstretch; the reward is maximum flexibility.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims Focus Areas

• BRICS — 10 confirmed full members (original 5 + Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Indonesia); Saudi Arabia's status unresolved as of 22 September 2026; 10 confirmed partner countries; NDB (HQ Shanghai); CRA (USD 100 billion); XVIII Summit New Delhi 12–13 September 2026; China chairs in 2027
• SCO — 10 members, HQ (Beijing), RATS (Tashkent), India joined 2017, observer states
• Quad — members, working groups, NOT a military alliance, Wilmington summit 2024
• G20 — members (19 + EU + AU), India's presidency outcomes, IMEC corridor
• UNSC — P5 members, India's claim, G4, Coffee Club
• SAARC vs BIMSTEC — members, why SAARC is dormant; BIMSTEC Charter in force 20 May 2024, 6th Summit Bangkok 4 April 2025, Bangkok Vision 2030, chair Bangladesh, Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey, Secretariat Dhaka, five BIMSTEC bodies in India
• ASEAN and East Asia Summit — ASEAN 11 members (Timor-Leste, 26 October 2025); EAS 19 participating countries; 22nd ASEAN-India Summit Kuala Lumpur, 26 October 2025
• I2U2 — members and focus areas
• IPEF — 14 members, 4 pillars, India opted out of trade pillar; Supply Chain Agreement in force 24 February 2024 and India Vice-Chair of the Supply Chain Council (per GTRI analysis, May 2026)
• Indian Ocean cluster — MAHASAGAR (12 March 2025); IORA (23 members, 12 dialogue partners, India chair 2025–2027, secretariat Ebene, Secretary General Sanjiv Ranjan); IONS (founded 2008, India chair 2026–2028); Colombo Security Conclave (five pillars, Founding Documents August 2024)
• IBSA — founded 2003, IBSA Fund (51 projects in 40 countries), Johannesburg Leaders' Meeting 23 November 2025, Article 109 review conference
• NAM (chair Uganda 2024–2027, mid-term ministerial Kampala October 2025); Commonwealth (56 members, SG Botchwey from 1 April 2025, CHOGM 2026 Antigua and Barbuda); G77 (134 members, chair Uruguay 2026)
• India-anchored bodies — ISA (HQ Gurugram, 113 members + 14 signatories, 8th Assembly New Delhi October 2025); CDRI (HQ New Delhi, launched 2019, 72 members); IBCA (treaty in force 23 January 2025, HQ India, seven big cats); Global Biofuels Alliance (34 countries + 14 organisations, secretariat New Delhi)
• AI Impact Summit 2026 — New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact, 92 endorsers, seven Chakras

Mains Focus Areas

• India's multi-alignment strategy — benefits and risks
• UNSC reform — India's case and obstacles
• BRICS expansion — what it means for global governance; Saudi Arabia's hedging as a case study
• Quad and Indo-Pacific security architecture; evolution from tsunami relief to strategic grouping
• India's G20 presidency — achievements (AU inclusion, NDLD consensus, DPI, IMEC) and limitations
• SCO — navigating China-Russia dominance while pursuing Central Asian connectivity
• SAARC's decline and alternatives (BIMSTEC)
• India as bridge between Global North and South; the Voice of Global South Summit has not met since August 2024, and the pitch has moved to platforms India chairs or hosts
• IPEF vs RCEP — India's trade framework choices in the Indo-Pacific
• BIMSTEC's institutionalisation (Charter, Vision 2030, MoUs with IORA and UNODC) as India's working substitute for SAARC
• India's Indian Ocean leadership — chairing IORA and IONS simultaneously, and whether MAHASAGAR delivers more than SAGAR did
• India as institution-builder — ISA, CDRI, IBCA and the Global Biofuels Alliance as instruments of norm-setting rather than membership-seeking

Cross-paper relevance

• GS2 (primary) — G20, G7, BRICS, SCO, NAM, Commonwealth; India's role in each; Kazan Summit 2024; BRICS expansion; India as Voice of Global South
• GS3 — Economic agenda of G20 (digital economy, climate finance, debt relief); IMEC; Sustainable Development Goals
• GS4 (Ethics) — Multilateralism vs. bilateralism: what serves global justice better?; India's ethical responsibilities as emerging power
• Essay — "The G20 and the future of global governance"; "BRICS: challenge to Western hegemony or talking shop?"

What Changed in 2024–2026

Two years of summitry left India's multi-alignment intact and considerably busier. India attended the BRICS summit at Kazan in October 2024 without loosening its Western ties, and the Modi-Xi bilateral held there, followed within days by the LAC patrolling agreement, showed what the non-Western forums are actually worth to New Delhi: they supply the room in which a frozen bilateral can be restarted. The pattern had already repeated on the SCO's margins at Astana that July, where the Jaishankar-Wang Yi meeting preceded the same breakthrough. For Mains, the point is that India's multilateral memberships often earn their keep bilaterally rather than multilaterally.

The G20 moved on from India's presidency through two Global South hosts, Brazil at Rio in November 2024 and South Africa at Johannesburg in November 2025, before passing to the United States for 2026. Each declaration carried more of the development agenda India had pushed in 2023, and the Johannesburg meeting also exposed the format's fragility: the incoming host stayed away altogether, and two other major members sent delegations rather than leaders. What to watch is whether an American presidency keeps the African and Global South workstreams alive or quietly lets them lapse.

India's BRICS chairship is now a completed record rather than a forthcoming event. The New Delhi summit of September 2026 closed India's year and the chair passes to Beijing for 2027, a year in which India will be balancing BRICS commitments against its Quad and Indo-Pacific engagements, with the Quad summit India was to host still unheld.

The Global South pitch has changed address. The Voice of Global South Summit has not met since August 2024, while IBSA, long written off as moribund, met at ministerial level in New York in September 2025 and at leaders' level in Johannesburg that November, and India used the AI Impact Summit of February 2026 to set an agenda in its own terms rather than joining one set elsewhere. India now spends its leaders' time on platforms where it holds the chair or the host's pen and sends ministers where it does not, which is also the explanation for its level of representation at NAM's Kampala meetings in October 2025.

The most consequential shift is regional rather than global. BIMSTEC stopped being a loose initiative: the Charter came into force in May 2024, the Bangkok summit of April 2025 adopted a vision document and a maritime transport agreement, and the grouping began acquiring external legal personality through memoranda with other organisations and a bid for UN observer status. That, rather than any revival of SAARC, is the working answer to what replaces SAARC. In the Indian Ocean, PM Modi's MAHASAGAR framing at Port Louis in March 2025 was followed by India taking the IORA chair, the Indian Navy assuming the IONS chairmanship at Visakhapatnam in February 2026 after sixteen years away, and the Colombo Security Conclave acquiring founding documents, a Secretary General appointed by India and a widened membership. A chaired IORA, a chaired IONS and an institutionalised CSC give India the convening role it has long claimed; the test of the coming year is delivery, and the IORA Council of Ministers that India is to host had still not been held as of 22 September 2026.

Three bodies India helped create crossed thresholds in the same window: the International Big Cat Alliance became a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation in January 2025, the ISA Assembly met at Bharat Mandapam in October 2025, and the CDRI took its annual conference to Nice in June 2025 with a small-island agenda and a fresh Call to Action. Read together with the Commonwealth's change of Secretary-General in April 2025 and the CHOGM due at Antigua and Barbuda in November 2026, the trajectory is clear enough for an answer: India is investing less in seeking seats at old institutions and more in chairing, hosting or founding new ones — and the questions worth carrying into the exam hall are whether that convening power converts into outcomes, and what happens to the Global South agenda once the G20 gavel leaves the developing world.

Vocabulary

Bloc

• Pronunciation: /blɒk/ (RP), /blɑːk/ (GA)
• Definition: A group of countries or political parties that have formed an alliance to act together in pursuit of shared strategic, economic, or ideological interests.
• Root: French bloc = group/block, from Old Dutch via Frankish; entered English 1903 in political-alliance context
• Origin: Borrowed from French bloc ("group, block"), of Old Dutch origin via Frankish; first used in English in 1903 in the context of Continental European political alliances.
• Part of Speech: noun
• Word Family: bloc (n), blocs (n pl), bloc-level (adj compound), trading bloc (n compound)
• Usage: As the post-Cold-War order fragments into competing trade and security blocs, India's strategic autonomy lies in engaging each grouping on its own terms rather than being permanently absorbed into any single one.
• Synonyms: alliance, coalition, axis, grouping, federation, league
• Antonyms: faction, splinter, individual, isolate
• Mnemonic: A "bloc" is a solid block of nations or voters wedged together by common interest - just drop the "k" and you have a political "block".
• UPSC: A group of states acting together, and the types should be kept apart because they behave differently. A military bloc rests on a defence commitment, as NATO does. A trading bloc rests on preferential market access, as the European Union and ASEAN do. A negotiating bloc coordinates positions within a wider forum without any commitment outside it, which is what the G77 and the Like-Minded Developing Countries do in climate negotiations and the Africa Group does at the WTO. The third kind matters most for India, whose leverage in multilateral negotiation has rested on aggregating the bargaining power of developing countries rather than on any alliance. The analytical caution worth stating is that bloc politics presupposes stable and mutually exclusive alignments, which the present system does not exhibit, since states now belong simultaneously to groupings with divergent purposes, and that is what multi-alignment describes.
• Nuance: A bloc is a group acting together, and the kind matters, since a military bloc rests on defence commitments, a trading bloc on preferential access and a negotiating bloc only on coordinated positions within a forum. An alliance implies mutual defence and is therefore narrower than a bloc. A coalition is usually temporary and issue-specific. Non-alignment was the refusal to join a bloc, while multi-alignment is the contemporary practice of belonging to several groupings with different purposes at once.
• Hindi: गुट (gut); व्यापारिक गुट for a trading bloc and गुटनिरपेक्षता for non-alignment.
• FAQ: What kinds of bloc are there? || Military blocs resting on defence commitments, trading blocs resting on preferential market access, and negotiating blocs that merely coordinate positions within a wider forum.
• FAQ: Why is bloc politics a poor description of the current order? || Because it assumes stable and mutually exclusive alignments, whereas states now participate simultaneously in groupings with divergent purposes.

Summit

• Pronunciation: /ˈsʌmɪt/
• Definition: A high-level meeting of heads of state or government convened to discuss and negotiate issues of international significance.
• Root: Old French somete = top (diminutive of som); Latin summum = the highest; summus = topmost
• Origin: From Old French somete ("top"), diminutive of som ("highest part"), from Latin summum ("the highest"); its diplomatic sense of a leaders-level conference emerged in the mid-20th century.
• Part of Speech: noun; also verb (intransitive)
• Word Family: summit (n/v), summiteer (n), summitry (n), summits (n pl), summiting (v pres.p)
• Usage: The much-anticipated climate summit in Glasgow exposed the chasm between the developed world's pledges and the developing world's demand for equitable finance, reminding us that diplomacy at the summit is only as durable as the political will that underwrites it.
• Synonyms: apex, peak, pinnacle, zenith, acme, crest
• Antonyms: base, foot, nadir, bottom
• Mnemonic: Think of the "sum" in summit as the total, topmost SUMming-up point — the highest figure you reach when everything is added up, like standing at the very top of a mountain.
• UPSC: A meeting at the level of heads of state or government, and its function is best understood through what only leaders can do: break deadlocks that officials cannot resolve because the remaining questions are political rather than technical, and commit their states in a way subordinates cannot. That explains both the value and the risk. Summits impose deadlines that force bureaucracies to converge, and they attach the leader's personal authority to the outcome. But a visible summit failure does far more damage than a failed officials' meeting, which is why most outcome documents are negotiated in advance by sherpas and the leaders' meeting largely ratifies what has already been settled. Distinguish institutionalised summits with fixed membership and rotating chairs, such as the G20 and BRICS, from ad hoc summits convened for a single purpose. Summit diplomacy has expanded because leaders can now travel and communicate easily, so it is a modern development rather than a permanent feature of statecraft.
• Nuance: A summit is a meeting of heads of state or government, while a ministerial meeting sits one level below and a senior officials meeting below that, so the level signals how much authority the outcome carries. A sherpa is the leader's personal representative who negotiates the outcome document beforehand, which is why summit texts are usually settled before the leaders arrive. A bilateral on the margins is a separate meeting between two leaders during a larger gathering. Trilateral and plurilateral describe the number of parties rather than the level of representation.
• Hindi: शिखर सम्मेलन (shikhar sammelan); शेरपा retained as it stands.
• FAQ: Why are summit outcomes negotiated in advance? || Because a visible failure at leaders' level is costly, so sherpas settle the outcome document beforehand and the summit largely ratifies what has already been agreed.
• FAQ: What does a sherpa do? || Acts as the leader's personal representative, negotiating the substance and wording of summit outcomes with counterparts in the months before the meeting.

Communiqué

• Pronunciation: /kəˈmjuːnɪˌkeɪ/
• Definition: An official statement or press release issued after a diplomatic meeting, conference, or summit, summarising the agreed positions and decisions of the participants.
• Root: French communiqué = something communicated; past participle of communiquer = to communicate; from Latin communis = common
• Origin: Borrowed from French communiqué ("something communicated"), past participle of communiquer ("to communicate"); first used in English in the 1850s.
• Part of Speech: noun
• Word Family: communiqué (n), communiqués (n pl), communicate (v), communication (n), communicative (adj)
• Usage: The joint communiqué issued after the bilateral summit reaffirmed both nations' commitment to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, yet its carefully hedged language betrayed the persisting divergence on contentious border questions.
• Synonyms: bulletin, statement, dispatch, announcement, declaration, report
• Antonyms: silence, concealment, suppression
• Mnemonic: Hear "communicate" inside communiqué — it is the French for "communicated": an official message communicated to the world after a meeting.
• UPSC: The official statement issued after a diplomatic meeting, and reading one is a skill because the document is negotiated word by word and its language is coded. The first thing to check is what kind of document it is: a joint communique agreed and issued by all participants signals that consensus was reached, whereas a chair's statement or chair's summary is issued on the chair's own responsibility precisely when it was not, so the form reveals more than the content. Within the text the vocabulary is graded, since welcomed indicates approval, noted indicates awareness without endorsement, and expressed concern is markedly stronger than regret. Omissions carry as much weight as inclusions, so the absence of a country's name from a paragraph on a conflict is itself a negotiated outcome. The effort India has invested in particular formulations at G20 and BRICS meetings illustrates how much diplomacy a single clause can absorb.
• Nuance: A joint communiqué is agreed and issued by all participants, whereas a chair's statement or summary is issued on the chair's own responsibility when consensus failed, which is why the form of the document is itself information. A declaration is more formal and usually more substantive. A memorandum of understanding records intended cooperation without creating binding legal obligations, while a treaty does bind. A readout is a brief account of a meeting issued by one participant alone and reflects only that side's characterisation.
• Hindi: विज्ञप्ति (vigyapti); संयुक्त विज्ञप्ति for a joint communiqué.
• FAQ: What is the difference between a joint communiqué and a chair's statement? || A joint communiqué is agreed by all participants and signals consensus, while a chair's statement is issued on the chair's own responsibility when consensus could not be reached.
• FAQ: Why does the wording of a communiqué matter? || Because the vocabulary is graded, with welcomed, noted and expressed concern carrying different weight, and because omissions are themselves negotiated outcomes.

Key Terms

Group of Seven (G7)

• Definition: The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal intergovernmental forum of seven major advanced industrial democracies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the European Union as a "non-enumerated" participant — that coordinates positions on global economic, political and security issues. It has no founding treaty, permanent secretariat or budget.
• Context: The grouping began as the G6 in 1975, when France, West Germany, the USA, Japan, the UK and Italy met at Rambouillet, France, to respond to the oil shock and global recession; Canada joined in 1976 to form the G7. Russia was added in 1998 to create the G8, but was suspended in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea, returning the forum to the G7. The presidency rotates annually among members, with the host country setting the agenda and convening the leaders' summit.
• UPSC Relevance: This is a foundational GS2 (International Relations) institution that UPSC tests through static and current-affairs angles — its membership, origin year, the G8-to-G7 transition over Crimea, and its informal (non-treaty) character. It is best studied comparatively with the G20, BRICS and OECD, and through India's recurring role as an "outreach"/guest invitee (every summit since 2019, including Kananaskis 2025). Mains relevance lies in debates over the G7's declining share of world output and the rise of plurilateral groupings — foundational concept that underpins questions on global economic governance and India's multi-alignment.

BRICS

• Pronunciation: /brɪks/
• Definition: An intergovernmental grouping of major emerging economies — originally Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — now expanded to ten full members (with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE joining in January 2024, and Indonesia in January 2025), representing approximately 48% of the world's population and ~37% of global GDP (PPP). BRICS coordinates on economic cooperation, development finance through the New Development Bank (NDB, HQ Shanghai), the USD 100 billion Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) as an alternative to IMF lending, and reform of global governance institutions.
• Context: The acronym BRIC was coined by British economist Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs in his November 2001 paper Building Better Global Economic BRICs, projecting that these four economies would challenge the dominant G7. The first BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, adding the "S." At the October 2024 Kazan Summit (Russia), ten partner countries were added (Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam). Saudi Arabia participated in the 17th BRICS Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 6–7 July 2025) and is listed on the official BRICS website. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration of 12 September 2026 nowhere enumerates the membership and does not name Saudi Arabia, but it does not name Egypt either, an uncontested full member since January 2024, so nothing can be read into that silence; the membership count is best stated as 10 confirmed full members with Saudi Arabia's status unresolved as of 22 September 2026. India held the BRICS chairship in 2026 under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" and hosted the XVIII BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026, which adopted the BRICS New Delhi Declaration; China chairs BRICS in 2027 and will host the XIX Summit.
• UPSC Relevance: GS2 International Relations — Prelims tests current 10 full members (including the 2024-25 expansion), NDB (HQ Shanghai), CRA (USD 100 billion), partner countries, India's 2026 chairship and the New Delhi Summit (12–13 September 2026). Mains asks "Is BRICS a credible alternative to the G7-led order?" and "How does India navigate BRICS while deepening Quad ties?" India's strategic challenge within BRICS — sharing the platform with China despite LAC tensions and a USD 85 billion+ trade deficit — is a premium Mains topic for multi-alignment strategy questions.

G20

• Pronunciation: /ˌdʒiː ˈtwɛnti/
• Definition: An international forum of 19 countries, the European Union, and the African Union (admitted as a permanent member in 2023), representing approximately 85% of global GDP and 75% of global trade, which coordinates macroeconomic policy, financial regulation, sustainable development, and climate action. Unlike the UN, G20 decisions are not legally binding but carry significant political weight due to members' collective economic heft.
• Context: Founded on 26 September 1999 at the G7 Finance Ministers' meeting in response to the late-1990s financial crises in Asia, Russia, and Latin America; elevated from a finance ministers' forum to a leaders-level summit in 2008 during the global financial crisis, and designated the "premier forum for international economic cooperation" in 2009. India held the G20 presidency from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023, under the theme "One Earth, One Family, One Future" (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). Key achievements included championing the African Union's admission as the 21st permanent member (the first expansion since 1999), achieving consensus on the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration despite Russia-Ukraine divisions, mainstreaming Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), launching the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), and co-founding the Global Biofuels Alliance.
• UPSC Relevance: GS2 International Relations — Prelims tests members (19 countries + EU + AU = 21 members), India's presidency outcomes (2023), theme (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), and key initiatives (IMEC, DPI, AU membership, Global Biofuels Alliance). Mains asks about India's G20 presidency achievements, India's bridge role between Global North and Global South, and G20 vs G7 in reshaping global governance. For a critical perspective in Mains, note that climate finance commitments remained inadequate and no binding outcomes were achieved on trade or debt restructuring.

Sources & Verification

BIMSTEC

• BIMSTEC — Sixth BIMSTEC Summit Declaration, Bangkok (4 April 2025)

BRICS

• MEA — BRICS New Delhi Declaration, XVIII BRICS Summit (12 September 2026)

Indian Ocean forums

• MEA — Press Statement by PM during the India-Mauritius Joint Press Statement, announcing MAHASAGAR (12 March 2025)
• MEA — 24th IORA Meeting of the Council of Ministers (21 May 2025)
• MEA — Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2941, Chairmanship of IORA (13 August 2026)
• IORA — Council of Ministers (accessed 22 September 2026)
• IORA — Member States, 23 members and 12 dialogue partners (accessed 22 September 2026)
• Indian Navy — India assumes chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (20 February 2026)
• PIB — India assumes chairmanship of IONS, 9th Conclave of Chiefs, Visakhapatnam (20 February 2026)
• IONS — Conclave of Chiefs listing (accessed 22 September 2026)
• MEA — 7th NSA-Level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (20 November 2025)
• President's Office, Maldives — 7th NSA-Level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (20 November 2025)

IBSA, NAM, Commonwealth, G77

• MEA — Media Statement of the 13th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting, New York (26 September 2025)
• MEA — Prime Minister participates in IBSA Leaders' Meeting, Johannesburg (23 November 2025)
• NAM Uganda Chairmanship — President Museveni opens the XIX NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Review, Kampala (15 October 2025)
• The Commonwealth — CHOGM: Apia 2024 and Antigua and Barbuda 2026 (accessed 22 September 2026)
• The Commonwealth — Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey marks one year in office (1 April 2026)
• The Commonwealth — Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey (accessed 22 September 2026)
• G77 — About the Group of 77 and current chairmanship (accessed 22 September 2026)
• UN President of the General Assembly — Remarks at the handover of the G77 chairmanship to Uruguay (14 January 2026)

India-anchored initiatives

• PIB — Eighth Session of the ISA Assembly, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi (28 October 2025)
• ISA — Assembly sessions and membership (accessed 22 September 2026)
• CDRI — ICDRI 2025 outcomes, recommendations and next steps, Nice (7 June 2025)
• CDRI — Membership and delivery figures; Philippines membership announcement (15 September 2026, accessed 22 September 2026)
• PIB — International Big Cat Alliance becomes a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation (3 February 2025)
• Global Biofuels Alliance — About us, membership (accessed 22 September 2026)

ASEAN, EAS and IPEF

• ASEAN — East Asia Summit participating countries (accessed 22 September 2026)
• MEA — Special Briefing by Secretary (East) on the PM's visit to Malaysia, recording the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit (5 February 2026)
• GTRI analysis reported by Economic Times / Rediff Money — IPEF status, Supply Chain Agreement in force since 24 February 2024, India as Vice-Chair of the Supply Chain Council (5 May 2026)

AI Impact Summit and Global South

• PIB — AI Impact Summit 2026 and the New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact (21 February 2026)
• MEA — Voice of Global South Summit, editions listed (accessed 22 September 2026)