Watch any TV news channel or scroll through social media during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, and you will see a dramatic story unfold. Flashy graphics and patriotic commentary show Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin standing side by side. The popular narrative suggests that these three powerful leaders have teamed up to challenge Western influence and reset world politics. But when you look past the cameras, the red carpets, and the grand speeches, the reality looks completely different. These three countries are not walking in lockstep. Instead, they see the world through completely different eyes, deal with distinct rivals, and pursue national goals that frequently clash with one another.
The idea that India, China, and Russia form a unified anti-Western alliance falls apart under basic examination. Since Western sanctions hit Moscow, Russia has leaned heavily on China for trade, diplomatic backing, and technology. India, on the other hand, views China as its most pressing national security challenge. Deadly clashes and continuing military face-offs along the Himalayan border keep ties tense. For China, Russia is a useful, resource-rich neighbor with a massive nuclear arsenal and secure oil routes that cannot be cut off by sea. But China treats India as an Asian rival to keep in check, using its close partnership with Pakistan to keep New Delhi occupied within South Asia.
Yet, despite ongoing border disputes, Beijing wants a steady, highly profitable commercial relationship with India. China faces significant economic problems at home, including a slowing real estate market and an aging population, meaning its factories desperately need large consumer markets. With Western nations reducing their imports of Chinese goods, India has absorbed much of that output. Today, India runs a massive trade gap with China exceeding 100 billion dollars. Indian manufacturers still depend heavily on Chinese ingredients for medicines, components for electronics, and basic industrial supplies. Even when public campaigns call for boycotting Chinese products, Indian companies urge caution because halting these essential imports would bring domestic factories to a sudden standstill.
Russia’s economic relationship with India operates on a similar, transactional level, even if it is wrapped in decades of mutual goodwill. Russia shares no disputed borders with India and has consistently supplied sensitive defense equipment when Western nations hesitated. Behind the friendly handshakes, however, President Putin also benefits from a very one-sided trade balance. Pressured by heavy Western sanctions, Russia found a massive, reliable customer in India for discounted seaborne crude oil. This energy trade expanded Russia’s surplus with India to roughly 45 billion dollars. India buys huge quantities of oil and military spare parts, but exports relatively little back to Russian markets. While Moscow values India’s non-aligned stance on the world stage, it views New Delhi as a helpful trading partner rather than an equal global superpower on par with Washington or Beijing.
Sitting between these two northern giants, India’s ambitions often run straight into domestic challenges. New Delhi needs calm on its borders to buy precious time at least another five to ten years to strengthen its military, upgrade domestic industries, and narrow the economic and technological gap separating it from China. Being heavily dependent on Chinese manufacturing inputs and Russian oil and weapons puts India in a tricky position. It limits how much leverage Indian diplomats have when sitting around the table at BRICS meetings. While pundits often praise strategic autonomy as a shield, the hard truth of modern geopolitics is that swing nations face intense pressure whenever great powers clash.
This situation becomes riskier when driven by loud, anti-Western cheerleading from online commentators. Some pundits celebrate the idea that the West is crumbling, claiming that an expanded BRICS will launch a shared common currency to end the dominance of the US dollar. But the economic numbers tell a very different story. The combined economies of all the other members combined still sit well below China’s economic output. If you look at India, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa put together, their economies do not even equal half of China's size.
Because China dominates the group so heavily, dumping the US dollar would not create a fair financial system for everyone. It would simply replace American financial influence with total reliance on the Chinese yuan. Neither the Indian rupee nor the Russian rouble is traded in high enough volumes worldwide to serve as a global reserve currency. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has repeatedly dismissed these currency fantasies. India has no interest in trading away one currency system only to end up under Beijing’s economic thumb. India’s goal is to keep its options open and build its own strength, not to serve as a junior partner in someone else's anti-Western campaign.
Multilateral summits still serve an essential, down-to-earth purpose. They give leaders from rival nations a table where they can sit down face to face, cool down border tensions, and conduct business. These discussions create vital communication channels that stop border skirmishes from turning into full-scale wars. But confusing practical crisis management with a close, historic alliance is wishful thinking. The dynamic within BRICS does not show an Indian victory over the West; rather, it highlights India's ongoing economic dependencies and security puzzles. Acknowledging those realities honestly is the only way India can protect its interests and build true national strength for the future