Club interests: Where are BRICS heading under the Indian presidency
A little less than two weeks remain before the key BRICS event, where the association will set goals for the coming year. Dozens of world leaders are expected to arrive in New Delhi.: both Member and partner countries. The association has been constantly growing over the past few years, and the upcoming meeting will show whether the new participants have managed to fully engage in the work. So far, their adaptation is facing a number of structural and even sometimes geopolitical problems. At the same time, interest in BRICS remains stable. Thailand may become one of the most likely candidates for full membership, Izvestia found out. Is it worth waiting for the expansion of the association after the meeting in New Delhi - in the Izvestia article.
What to expect from the BRICS summit in New Delhi
Interest in BRICS is constantly being fueled, especially at a time when the system of international relations is changing before our eyes, and the world is being shaken by new large-scale conflicts. Less than two weeks remain before the key event that will determine the further vector of development of one of the largest interstate economic associations. The XVIII BRICS Summit will be held from September 12 to 13 in New Delhi.
The motto of the Indian presidency has become "Building Resilience, Innovation, cooperation and sustainable development." And now the participants will have to decide how to interact in the face of constant economic risks. Therefore, the summit's agenda includes settlements in national currencies, the development of alternative payment infrastructure and the deepening of economic cooperation. The heads of the largest countries of the association will discuss this and much more among themselves. Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at recent talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar that he would meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit the republic for the first time in seven years.
Jaishankar had previously admitted that the summit would be attended not only by the BRICS member states, but also by the association's partner countries. Representatives of Belarus, Bolivia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, as well as invited states and regional organizations are expected to arrive in New Delhi. Given the constant expansion of the group, the upcoming summit may become the largest face-to-face meeting of world leaders in the history of BRICS.
Over the past few years, the membership of the association has been constantly growing. In 2023, a fateful decision was made, which resulted in the appearance of four new members under the Russian presidency in 2024. Then Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined the BRICS on a full-fledged basis, and by the end of the year a new category of partner states was born. In 2025, under the presidency of Brazil, Indonesia became a full member of the association.
The New Delhi summit may determine the future model of BRICS expansion. After connecting so many participants in a relatively short period of time, they need to adapt. Therefore, the main topic in this direction is likely to be the development of long-term integration rules.
As the number of "newcomers" increases, it becomes more difficult to coordinate positions on global governance reform, financial cooperation, and trade. This is already reflected in the work of the association. For example, in April 2025, the BRICS foreign ministers were unable to adopt a joint declaration due to disagreements between Egypt and Ethiopia on the issue of UN Security Council reform. A year later, a similar situation was repeated in New Delhi: the document was not agreed due to a dispute between Iran and the UAE over the wording of the conflict in the Middle East. In both cases, the presiding country limited itself to publishing the statement of the presidency.
An additional challenge remains the weak institutionalization of the association. At the moment, BRICS does not have a charter, a permanent secretariat, or a formalized procedure for admitting new members. As the number of countries with different economic models and foreign policy priorities grows, it becomes even more difficult to work out a common agenda, and the implementation of agreements depends on the group's chairmanship — and there may also be nuances here.
How can BRICS change in the coming years
However, interest in BRICS, whether it is a desire to join it or to raise its status in the association, is always welcome.
Thailand is one of the states hoping to raise its status in the association in the future. As Izvestia found out, Moscow is positive about Bangkok's desire to become a full member of the BRICS.
— From the very beginning, the Russian side considered the Kingdom as a strong candidate. Thailand is an influential state in Southeast Asia," the Russian Embassy in Bangkok said.
Thailand stands out among the Southeast Asian countries due to its combination of economic weight, geographical location and balanced foreign policy. The Kingdom ranks second in ASEAN after Indonesia in terms of industrial production, is one of the largest exporters of automobiles, electronics and agro-industrial products, acting as one of the key transport and logistics hubs in the region. At the same time, Bangkok maintains stable economic ties with China, India, Russia, the United States and the EU, avoiding participation in military-political blocs. This model of foreign policy largely corresponds to the philosophy of the BRICS.
Having received the status of a partner country, Bangkok has already announced its intention to use the platform to expand cooperation in trade, investment, the digital economy, transport connectivity and the development of production chains.
According to Elena Polltsina, senior researcher at the Center for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies at the ICSA RAS, Thailand's acquisition of the status of a full-fledged BRICS member will expand Bangkok's foreign policy capabilities, allowing it to balance more flexibly between international centers of power.
At least Thailand's possible entry does not exactly contradict the interests of other members of the association, Pavel Shaternikov, a researcher at the IMEMO RAS, tells Izvestia. He emphasizes that BRICS is not an international organization in the classical sense, it is rather an informal forum, which by its nature is closer to the G7 format.
In May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that there were specific requests for full membership and they would be considered from among those states that had received partner status.
Bangkok officially handed over a letter of intent to the Russian presidency back in 2024.
"Today, the Kingdom is actively participating in the work of the association," the Russian diplomatic mission noted. — The accumulated experience of Thailand's practical work within the BRICS mechanisms can objectively create favorable conditions for considering its future status.
Izvestia also sent a request to the Thai Embassy in Russia.
However, the expansion of the BRICS will not necessarily happen under the Indian presidency. It seems that the issues of adapting new members for unification have come to the fore.
"At this stage, there is an understanding in the group that the primary task remains internal consolidation, full integration of the member states and partner countries that joined in 2024-2025 into existing cooperation formats," the Russian Embassy in Malaysia told Izvestia.
The Russian Embassy in Cuba gave a similar assessment. According to Izvestia, the issue of increasing the number of full-fledged BRICS members is not currently on the agenda. Havana, as well as Kuala Lumpur, have the status of partners.
In this regard, you should not underestimate the status of a partner. He alone already gives states the opportunity to actively participate in the work of the association. Victoria Panova, head of the Center for Expert Council on Russia's Participation in the BRICS Association, noted that although Russia supports the inclusive expansion of the association, partner status allows us to build cooperation mechanisms without reducing the effectiveness of the BRICS, while hasty expansion could complicate decision-making and even paralyze the work of the association.
Thus, Thailand is unlikely to receive the status of a full member of the BRICS in the near future, but its application remains promising. For Bangkok, the current partnership format is becoming an opportunity to integrate deeper into the unification mechanisms, and for Moscow, it is an additional channel for strengthening cooperation with one of the key Southeast Asian states.
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