Eleanor Danby 
Leaders at the New Delhi summit agreed to expand settlement of trade in national currencies rather than the dollar, according to the South China Morning Post. The step formalizes a de-dollarization push Russia and China have championed for years, though the declaration set no timeline or enforcement mechanism.
The summit could not agree a common line on the Israel-Iran war, according to Anadolu Ajansı and News18, which reads the split as evidence a larger BRICS carries deeper fault lines, not fewer.
Iran joined BRICS in the bloc's most recent expansion; Pakistan's bid has gone nowhere, according to bdnews24.com, which notes new membership requires consensus among existing members — giving India, Pakistan's regional rival, an effective veto.
India treats BRICS as one seat among several — alongside the Quad and the G20 — rather than a bloc against the West, according to Business Today. That sits awkwardly with Russia and China's use of the same platform as a counterweight to Washington.
Hypothesis: BRICS is settling into a two-speed structure — a functioning financial-cooperation track under a foreign-policy track that still cannot produce joint positions on wars. Supporting this: the currency pledge was the summit's only concrete deliverable, while Iran produced no joint statement, per Anadolu. Against this: India's simultaneous hedging across the Quad and G20 suggests some members prefer BRICS stay rhetorical, so it never forces a binding choice between Washington and Moscow. Confidence: moderate, pending the next decision on Pakistan's bid.
- Whether the currency-settlement pledge produces working bilateral clearing arrangements or stays declaratory
- Whether Pakistan's membership resurfaces at the next summit and how India responds
- Whether the bloc issues any joint statement on Iran as the conflict evolves
