Hosting 20 countries - members and partners - at BRICS summit represented New Delhi's biggest diplomatic gathering since the 2023 G20 meeting. Expectedly, the event has generated much debate. The 45-page joint statement, too, has been read and interpreted widely. In the end, what does this amount to? Three points are worth noting.
There is the familiar, but boring, question about the coherence of BRICS. This is not a trading bloc (Asean), or strategically aligned political collective (G7, at least in its good days). In some senses, it's a grouping constantly searching for a glue and making up for it by sharing economic, social and developmental, and occasionally technological experiences among a cohort of emerging economies.
