BRICS NSA Meeting Signals Global South's Emerging Role Amid Shifting Dynamics

The BRICS NSA meeting, chaired by India's NSA Ajit Doval, was the first international meeting in which a senior Iranian official (Deputy NSA) participated following the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Switzerland, signalling that Tehran cannot be vanquished. It remains a key middle power whose natural resources can power economies across the globe.

The presence of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, in the backdrop of the peace deal also sent a powerful message that neighbours may be willing to work out an arrangement of cohabitation.   

Key Security Challenges 

The 11 NSAs or their Deputies exchanged views on key security challenges the world faces. In the non-traditional realm, they deliberated on challenges related to energy security, food security, supply chain security, emerging technologies used by terrorist networks, cybersecurity, and climate-induced instability.

They decided to further strengthen the BRICS cooperation and enhance information sharing, besides coordinating among the BRICS law enforcement agencies to counter terrorism and cyber risks. The NSAs reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including through countering the use of new technologies utilised by terrorist networks.

India-China Ties

Another key takeaway from the BRICS NSA meeting was the intent to stabilise the India-China ties in a gradual manner, as evident from China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Doval.  

In fact, Wang Yi’s meeting set the stage for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s presence at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13. This will be Xi’s first visit to India since 2019, and could contribute to steady ties and bring balance to the trade partnership. While it is not easy to build trust with China, which is seeking to dominate Asia and the world, it is important for India to manage its ties nevertheless.

Meanwhile, the presence of the Russian NSA ensured continuity in the special and privileged strategic partnership that has been an anchor of stability in geopolitics for decades. The Russian NSA offered specific proposals for BRICS energy and food security.  

West And BRICS  

While BRICS may remain an enigma for policymakers in the West, who often find it challenging to grasp the presence of China and India in the same grouping, the larger context is often missed. BRICS is not anti-West: it is a non-Western group that symbolises multipolarity and enables India to further its principle of strategic autonomy and balance the foreign policy approach.

BRICS was created as a group for emerging economies. Later, it evolved as a platform representing the voice of the Global South. The Global North or the West often makes rules for the entire international community but sidelines the Global South in the decision-making process. BRICS ensures the Global South plays a key role, not as a bystander, but as an equal stakeholder, at a time when growth shifts towards the Global South.

The very picture of the 11 NSAs at the meeting symbolises multipolarity and the aspirational middle powers that are ready to contribute to the decision-making process as equal partners, and not as bystanders.          

(The writer is a commentator on geopolitics. Views expressed are personal.)