BRICS’s Proposals on Global Governance
Global Governance and International Cooperation
Global governance is at peril now. the long consensus of rules-based international order has been collapsing as openly acknowledged by Canadian Prime Minister Carney in his speech at the famous Davos World Economic Forum 2026. Today, the leading countries and their world leaders are acting irresponsibly (in the name of their own national interest (such as MAGA) and their actions are killing global institutions which we have built post WW-II. Our global governance is going back to the primitive era of our evolution by these acts, especially when we see the situation in the Middle East (in Gaza) and also some of the actions of the so- called world's only superpower i.e. the United States.
The Weaponization of global trade by Donald Trump has created a complete upheaval in global trade and development. We in India are also in dilema as our dependence on global trade is high, especially for oil imports and other capital goods. Therefore, we need to act in tandem with like minded countries to ensure fair global trade practices by industrialized nations in order to ensure that our vulnerable sectors are protected (such as the agri sector). In this regard India-EU Free Trade Deal is a milestone and is rightly being termed as The “mother of all deals”: as described by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It represents the consensus of more than 2 billion people and sets an example for our future trade negotiations with other countries.
Unilateralism is still not dead as we see the recent irresponsible acts of President Donald Trump to capture the Venezuelan leader Maduro and now threatening to take Greenland is simply awful. The war in Iran almost looks imminent. The war in Ukraine is not yet over and at the same time China is threatening to take back the island of Taiwan by force. Japan is rearming itself after a landslide victory of the LDP under the new leadership of prime minister Sanae Takaichi. It seems we are going to witness another Cold War or even hot wars if the situation goes uncontrolled in many regions of the world.
The world is moving towards Multiculturalism but at a slow pace. During the presidency of Donald Trump, the US has been gradually withdrawing from the global institutions (president Trump signed decrees to withdraw from more that 53 global institutions) and now there is also threat of global nuclear wars as the SALT-II treaty is not yet negotiated to be renewed. For India, we do not take any side in any war, conflict our power struggle, but we do hope a peaceful solution of the issue and the conflict on the humanitarian ground. For us the ideal outcome is a stable world where it can negotiate its interests without choosing sides. We believe that unipolar world is over. United States is no longer the sole superpower, and it must learn to coexist with rise of India and China and the rest (I mean global south as a whole).
We have never seen such a dilemma in our lifetimes, and hence the future of global governance looks very uncertain despite the rise of new global groupings such as BRICS and SCO. BRICS Plus has emerged as a uniting force and provides an alternative to the decaying world order led by G7. I personally believe that the rise of BRICS and its economic weightage (40% of world GDP) have growing implications for global governance and civil society. We do hope for a multipolar world which is still emerging. But with the phenomenal rise of Chinese comprehensive power, however, the future of multilateralism in Asia is not very positive.
As global cooperation is under threat with the actions of US unilateralism, when key international institutions being questioned or weakened (WTO almost gone with the wind) - precisely this is the time when shared challenges require collective action from we the globa south. I believe that BRICS is an idea developed by the leaders of the original four countries (Brazil, Russia India,and China) at a very right time. The global south is desperately looking for an alternative to the Western hypocrisy and BRICS provides an important platform for them to speak out their mind on global governance and various other issues concerning their safety and prosperity. BRICS mechanism works with consensus where each member country is treated strictly as a sovereign equal. There is no bullying by Russia or China and every member ocuntry enjoys equal participation.
In a world defined by fractured geopolitics and competing national interests, the core barrier to effective international cooperation is no longer a lack of technical solutions or scientific knowledge—it is a crisis of trust and institutional legitimacy. In a fragmented world our futures are intertwined through shared challenges like climate change, infrastructure needs, and the aspirations of our youth. Hence we need to act together for the sake of common humanity as we Indias believe in the holistic philosophy “Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam” and “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay”.
BRICS’s proposals on Global Governance
India's 2026 BRICS presidency will transform global trade, small business growth, and local currency systems—creating massive opportunities for entrepreneurs in emerging markets worldwide. India’s presidency of BRICS will focus on food and energy security, climate change, and sustainable development through digital transformation, startups, innovation, and strengthened development partnerships. EAM Jaishankar hosts BRICS FMs meet in New York. Emphasises that BRICS must amplify its "collective call" UNSC reforms. RICS is driving forward the enhancement of the international financial and monetary architecture.
We in India strongly feel that the global financial architecture established after World War II in the mid-20th century does not reflect the reality of the 21st century. The current world order is under great transition since the end of the Cold war and especially since the 2008 global financial crisis. In collective voice BRICS nations have been asking for reform of global governance institutions which currently is totally biased in favor of industrialized nations. The Bretton-Woods System has worked well for the major industrialized countries, but the so-called tradition of appointing only Europeans and Americans as their head does send a discriminatory message.
The expansion of the African continent within the club demonstrates BRICS' dedication to the South-South dialogue and the growing importance of Africa and also reflects broader shifts in the global power dynamics. All of the BRICS states share a common vision of international dialogue where everyone involved is respected and treated as equal. With the expansion of BRICS, there are ever more opportunities to make the institutional setting more representative, to define the rules and potential outcomes of the game to ensure a better future for the whole of humanity.
The BRICS groping from day one is very diverse and has also emerged as an important forum for people to people contact and cultural diplomacy. It is going to become the first inter-civilizational community where different cultures enrich each other and people-to-people connection with mutual respect and respect for all religions and ethnicity. What you are hinting at is India-China border tensions, which is prevailing since 2014, but that does not mean it has become a zero-sum game. Despite these border tensions, the bilateral trade between India-China is rising at a higher speed, and we have created various consultation mechanism in place to control the differences. Each BRICS summit provides an opportunity for our top leaders to meet and discuss the bilateral issues on the sidelines of the summit.
The idea of BRICS mechanism is not just limited to economic policy coordination. It has expanded into various realms of global governance consultations, including Climate Change, New Energy, AI and Global peace building. All the member countries play crucial role in advancing the BRICS’s core values of openness, inclusiveness, and mutually beneficial cooperation. The BRICS Declaration 2023 highlighted the desirability of using national currencies in trade and financial transactions, both within BRICS and with other trading partners. BRICS Leaders tasked finance ministers to elaborate ways to develop local currencies, payment instruments and platforms. Creating reserve systems for international financial transactions, building new models of correspondent banking relationships should find a place in the BRICS agenda. The BRICS countries keep working on the Contingent Reserve Arrangement and are considering a new global payment system for international trade to diversify opportunities for cross-border transactions.
The current world is in a situation of great changes and upsets unprecedented in a century. From a macro perspective, the world is entering a period of political and economic reshaping. Asian and African countries are already becoming more and more important for the world economy as well as security. There is a serious “great financial divide” across the world and BRICS countries see this as a major threat to world peace. Hence major focus of BRICS policy has been to focus on reforming the global financial governance which led to the creation of National Development Bank (NDB).
In the upcoming meeting in India, BRICS leaders should propose a world governance model which would institutionalize cultural reflexivity in global governance. International institutions must reflect the world’s diversity, not just its power structures. No nation can secure its citizens’ health, data, or climate future alone. True sovereignty in the 21st century means having a seat at the table when the rules are written. Transnational threats like pandemics, migration, and cyberattacks do not respect borders, yet our governance structures remain rigidly state-centric. To bridge this gap, we must move beyond the binary of “globalism versus sovereignty” and instead build a framework of shared responsibility without centralized authority.
In conlusion let me say that, different civilizations have distinct views on privacy, state responsibility, and human rights. Forcing a universal template (e.g., Western-style data governance or individualistic public health mandates) often triggers backlash and non-compliance. My goal would be to ensure that every nation, regardless of size, sees global governance not as a constraint, but as a strategic asset. As a leader, I would push for rotating secretariat hubs across continents, multilingual negotiations by default, and the integration of indigenous knowledge into climate adaptation frameworks. Legitimacy flows from representation. In a fragmented world, one truth remains clear: no country, sector, or institution can respond alone. Dialogue, cooperation, and responsibility are not ideals! they are necessities.
