From SCO to BRICS: India Demonstrated  Strategic Autonomy Unabashedly 

This third camp is the most pragmatic and practical. For indeed, India ‘s destiny is tied to both the West and the global south. It is not one or the other and India will not have to continue to do this balancing act but is itself a balancer of these platforms.

What exactly does this mean?

Let us take the recently concluded SCO summit of heads of state in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Bishkek to attend the summit. He was possibly representing the only democracy in the forum, therefore already striking a balance.

Next, India ‘s presence also ensured that this platform did not transform into an anti-Western platform. Given its close ties to the western world India ‘s presence in this forum helps to keep it non-western rather than anti-Western.

Most importantly, however, is that India ‘s presence and participation in such forums is emblematic of its strategic autonomy. The SCO was formed as a security bloc for the Eurasian region. It may also be pertinent to point out that it was floated soon after the American war on Afghanistan began. It has often been dubbed as the Eurasian NATO though it is not a military bloc. Dominated by Russia and China, India ‘s presence helps to create a middle ground, and a democratic space as all decisions are made on the basis of consensus.

It is the same with BRICS, which began exactly twenty years ago with a meeting in Russia ‘s Ekaterinburg between India, China, and Russia.  South Africa joined in 2010. The grouping expanded substantially in 2024 during the summit in Russia’s Kazan where 5 additional members – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were inducted. Last year Indonesia joined the bloc. It also has 10 partner countries.

In Bishkek India in a very bold but understated manner demonstrated what it meant by strategic autonomy  – the right and ability to choose and pursue policies which first and foremost serve its national interest. This was amply evident during the Prime minister’s meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek.

Following the meeting, Modi wrote in his X account: “Met President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek. Reiterated our commitment to strengthening India’s long-standing friendship with Iran across diverse sectors. We want to expand and diversify our trade basket in the times to come.  We had a discussion on the prevailing situation in the region. India will continue to support all efforts at ensuring peace.” This was Modi’s second meeting with Pezeshkian and the first after the US-Israel war on Iran began.

The full import of the Modi-Pezeshkian meeting can be understood when one considers that it came in the wake of warnings by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that countries that trade with Iran will face secondary sanctions on their exports to the USA. The US has also withdrawn the sanctions waiver on the Chabahar port, forcing. India to withdraw from its engagement at the Shahid Beheshti terminal there.  Meanwhile,  India still continues to negotiate a trade deal with the US. None of this prevented the meeting and India’s resolve to continue engagement with Iran, important for a variety of reasons – trade, connectivity, and energy procurements.

 This engagement continued in Delhi too during the BRICS summit, which was also attended by Pezeshkian. The photo of Modi and Pezeshkian spoke volumes at a very divisive moment for the world. Modi proved his resolve, that inspite of his closeness to Israel, India will not abandon Iran but continue t engage with it because it is India that needs Iran.

Yet, this engagement also called for a quid pro quo as Modi did not hesitate to spell out India ‘s concerns regarding the closure of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz or the deaths of Indians – both seafarers and innocent workers in the Gulf countries who gave lost their lives, and done their jobs l, because of Iranian fire.

India’s resolve to pursue policies in its own interest was similarly seen in Modi’s meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek. India continues to buy Russian crude despite the tariffs imposed on it for such imports. Yet, it continues its engagement with Russia as seen in Putin’s visit to India last December for the annual India-Russia bilateral summit, and his current visit not only to attend the BRICS summit but also to hold a separate bilateral with Prime Minister Modi. Talks are believed to be wide-ranging encompassing defence, trade, energy and AI.

At the same time the engagement with Russia revealed more: Modi in clear terms conveyed to Putin in Bishkek that the war in Ukraine must come to an end, from ‘endless war” to ‘end of war”. We do not know what is happening behind the scenes. However,  Modi ‘s message to Putin and subsequently the trip by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to Poland and Ukraine may point to  something may actually be cooking.  Whatever it is, there is no doubt that the war is increasingly hurting India’s interests and that its end is the best that India cam hope for. Along with this India’s message has also been that it is willing to do whatever is necessary to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end.

In Delhi, during the bilateral with Putin. Modi also pointed out the imbalance in trade, tilted heavily in favour of Russia because of energy imports.

It was the same with China. The Modi-Xi bonhomie seemed to be back as President Xi Jinping too attended the BRICS summit and both leaders held a bilateral meeting. India is resolved to improve relations with China – a neighbour, and geography is something that cannot be wishes away. Both are great civilisational states which have been dialoguing with each other for centuries. Here too Modi laid out India ‘s position in clear crisp manner – the border issue needed to be resolved and India expected China to be sensitive to India ‘s concerns.

For those lamenting that BRICS signified replacing US dominance with China dominance – India provided the answer. The yuan will not replace the dollar in trade matters, but bilateral trade within the BRICS bloc should be encouraged to be conducted in local currencies, something that India has already been doing with some countries.

Finally, the BRICS summit provided some fine moments of Indian diplomacy.

A breakthrough of sorts took place as Pezeshkian met with UAE’s Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Any future talks and normalisation between these two countries which have been on the opposite sides of the divide in the Iran war will have this meeting in Delhi as a watershed moment.

But India was not just able to bring such opposing powers together under the same roof for the BRICS summit in Delhi, it also pulled off a joint statement which could only have been arrived at through consensus. This was undoubtedly a diplomatic feat. And the Delhi Declaration was voluminous about Palestinian rights – once again reflecting  India ‘s commitment to the two-state solution even as it builds close ties with Israel.

Thus India continues to navigate its increasingly robust relations with West, along with its ties to Russia,  while staying true to its roots in the global south. India’s participation in these forums helps to not only expand its footprint in these geographies, but it also promotes true multilateralism and India’s commitment to it in an increasingly multipolar world.