BRICS, its 18th summit scheduled for this weekend in New Delhi, has one of the more unusual origin stories in international cooperation. In 2001, BRIC was an investment acronym for four emerging economies that formalised the forum in 2006. 20 yrs later, it has 11 members and 10 partner countries, its members representing nearly half of humanity, and accounting for about 40% of global GDP.
Yet, scale alone doesn't establish relevance. BRICS has no founding treaty, common ideology or uniform political system. Its members have different histories, development paths and world views. Some manage complex bilateral relationships, while others navigate significant regional tensions.
