By Hasan Muhammad

Editor's Note: The writer is a freelance columnist on international affairs based in Karachi, Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of China Economic Net.

The impending 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil’s third time as host and this time as chair - comes at a historical inflection point, not merely for the group’s internal dynamics, but for the broader shape of the emerging global order.

Brazil, at the helm in 2025, is advancing an agenda that is at once pragmatic and aspirational: a more efficient BRICS payment system to enhance trade autonomy; a coordinated stance on inclusive, ethical governance of artificial intelligence; a Climate Leadership Agenda to improve climate finance; and stronger collaboration on public health. T

Earlier this year, Indonesia joined BRICS as a full member - the first Southeast Asian nation to do so - while Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam were admitted as partner countries. That ASEAN-leaning pivot signals something more profound than an enlargement. It reflects a recalibration of global gravity.

The United States has resorted to waving around threats of 100 to 150 percent tariffs against BRICS countries, in a futile attempt to stall this southward and eastward shift. Yet the more it sabre-rattles, the more it underscores the very reason BRICS has become so attractive to the Global South: the desire for sovereignty over subordination, for agency over alignment.

Asia’s BRICS moment is emblematic of that yearning. With China and India already embedded in the group, the inclusion of Indonesia and the alignment of Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand offer not just demographic and economic ballast, but also strategic connectivity. These nations are not junior partners or passive observers. Their rapidly industrializing economies - pivotal in electronics, automotive and resource exports - have long been interwoven with the sinews of global supply chains. But increasingly, they are rerouting those supply lines eastward and southward.

Take the infrastructure story. The China-Laos Railway, now extending into Thailand and Malaysia, is more than a logistical conduit. It’s a corridor of realignment. The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail - a flagship of Indonesia’s cooperation with China - is a testament to how BRICS can anchor mega-projects beyond the developmental diktats of the IMF or World Bank. These arteries do not merely transport goods; they carry the promise of financial independence and mutual development on equitable terms.

The governance of artificial intelligence, another item high on Brazil’s agenda, is both urgent and symbolic. The AI conversation has been dominated by the U.S.–EU axis, where debates on ethics often mask techno-nationalist turf wars. By promoting inclusive and responsible AI norms, BRICS is not just demanding a seat at the table; it is proposing to help build a fairer table. If AI is to shape the future of work, health, security, and governance, then the rules cannot be scripted by the few for the many.

Climate finance, too, features prominently - and rightly so. The West’s lofty pledges remain mostly unfulfilled, as evidenced by the meager trickle of funds from COP summits. BRICS' proposed Climate Leadership Agenda does not intend to reinvent the wheel, but to ensure it turns faster and more justly. The New Development Bank (NDB), once a cautious lender, is increasingly backing renewable energy, green tech, and resilience projects that reflect both planetary urgency and developmental justice.

And then there is public health - the final pillar in Brazil’s quad-pronged plan. The pandemic laid bare the deep asymmetries in global health systems. Vaccine nationalism and hoarding by rich nations exposed the hollowness of solidarity in a crisis. BRICS, in response, has begun to bolster cooperation in pharmaceutical production, health data sharing, and cross-border health infrastructure. The aim is not to disengage from global institutions, but to democratize them.

Of course, challenges remain. The diversity within BRICS - in political systems, economic trajectories, and even bilateral tensions - is often cited by skeptics. But therein lies its promise: if these disparate states can converge on shared goals, they offer a model of pluralistic cooperation that the West struggles to match.