The handover of the BRICS presidency is steeped in symbolism. In 2024, Brazil received a steel mallet from Russia – a symbol of industrial strength. When Brazil handed over the presidency to India last Friday, it handed over a gavel made from recycled wood from the Amazon rainforest. The gesture, according to Brazilian BRICS Sherpa Mauricio Lyria, was to continue the ethos that defined his country’s presidency. “The gavel represents the sustainability and deep roots of cooperation that unite the countries of the group. Through this gesture, confidence is reaffirmed in India’s upcoming chairmanship along with a commitment to support its efforts to advance the BRICS agenda,” Lyrio said while handing over the gavel to Sudhakar Dalel, India’s BRICS sherpa.
The BRICS Sherpa meeting in Brasilia on 11-12 December went beyond symbolism as it assessed the results of Brazil’s presidency, which formally ends on 31 December. The meeting, which brought together negotiators from all 11 members, was an assessment of achievements until 2025. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira emphasized that he had moved the traditional process forward. The relevance of a grouping would increasingly be measured by its impact on people’s daily lives. “Major international issues will remain central to our work, but our companies also expect us to deliver concrete results from our initiatives,” said Mr. Vieira.
Lots of challenges
Brazil has built its BRICS presidency on sustainability and inclusive development with an emphasis on results. This was reflected in three declarations at the summit in Rio de Janeiro in July – on the governance of artificial intelligence, a framework for climate finance and a partnership to eliminate socially determined diseases. Mr. Lyrio acknowledged that Brazil’s presidency unfolded amid growing mistrust of multilateralism, but that this only increased the importance of BRICS. “These trends underscored the centrality of BRICS as a platform for dialogue, building bridges and articulating perspectives that cannot be ignored,” Mr. Lyrio said, adding that the summit’s final declaration reaffirmed a shared commitment to multilateralism.
The direct challenge to multilateralism – and BRICS – came in June, just days before the summit in Rio de Janeiro, when US President Donald Trump warned of “repressive consequences” if the grouping sought to “weaken the US dollar”. Mr Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries he accused of undermining the US currency. Days later, in a thinly veiled message to India, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said New Delhi’s purchase of Russian military equipment and its association with BRICS had “rubbed the United States off the wrong path”.
Regardless of the pressure, India participated wholeheartedly in the Rio summit and helped make the meeting a defining moment for the group. The Rio Summit, held on July 6-7, was the first BRICS meeting to bring together all 11 full members, along with 10 partner countries, eight invited nations and representatives of all major multilateral institutions as leaders to endorse key statements on finance, climate action and technology. Speaking after the summit, Mr Vieira said BRICS was “the cradle of a new model of development” and the global South was “no longer peripheral but central to the defense of multilateralism”.
Brazil’s BRICS presidency leaves behind a clear road map, which President Lula da Silva formulated at the summit through a critique of the global financial architecture. “The structures of the World Bank and the IMF reflect a reverse Marshall Plan in which emerging and developing economies finance the more developed world,” Mr Lula said, calling for systemic reform. In addition, during Brazil’s tenure, health cooperation and global governance were strengthened, while artificial intelligence became a BRICS priority. “Developing technologies must work within governance that is fair, inclusive and just,” Lula said at the summit, warning that AI must not become “the exclusive privilege of a handful of nations or a tool of manipulation concentrated in the hands of billionaires.”
Economic autonomy forms another important pillar of Brazil’s heritage. New Development Bank (NDB) President Dilma Rousseff said at the Rio summit that the NDB’s mandate is to finance infrastructure, innovation and sustainability “by promoting social justice, sovereignty and sustainable growth”, reaffirming BRICS ambitions to shape their own development path.
Now that Brazil has passed the BRICS gavel to India, the transition is framed as one of continuity. At a handover ceremony at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia, Mr Dalela acknowledged the depth of Brazilian stewardship, noting that progress in political and security cooperation, economic and financial coordination and people-to-people exchanges reflected a presidency taken seriously at all levels. “This year was particularly significant as it coincided with the consolidation phase of the expanded membership,” he said, adding that the integration of new partners required a careful balance between maintaining BRICS’ core principles and responding to changes in global governance. “Brazil’s leadership has been exemplary,” he concluded, setting the tone for India’s presidency.
Trying times
2025 was a particularly challenging year for the BRICS in its 17th year. With Mr. Trump back in the White House, almost every major international institution has been shaken and global trade has been rattled by a wave of unilateral sanctions. Brazil and India, both founding BRICS members, have found themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s trade war – facing tariffs of almost 50%, although most of the measures against Brazil have been lifted. Rather than bow to pressure, Brazil used its BRICS presidency to see the grouping through a difficult phase without any real damage – a possible model for future presidencies.
Mr. Dalela, Secretary (Economic Relations) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, took the leadership of the grouping for 2026 and said that Delhi would continue with the collectively agreed agenda. India’s chairmanship will rest on the four pillars of resilience, innovation, collaboration and sustainability, with ongoing initiatives on climate change, artificial intelligence and scientific collaboration continuing.
As the BRICS presidency passes from Brazil to India, the next chapter will most likely be based on continuity and consolidation.
Published – 18 Dec 2025 09:07 IST
