In 2025, the world is rapidly evolving. New alliances are being forged, and old ones are being tested amid rising tensions and shifting economic power. At the center of this whirlwind stands India, a giant of the Global South, striving to balance its membership in influential groups like BRICS and the Quad. Both groupings offer India strategic leverage but pose unique challenges, especially as emerging threats and new priorities shape global affairs. The question on many minds is: as the pressure mounts, which alliance will falter first, and how long can India keep both in play?

What BRICS Stands For in 2025

BRICS originally brought together Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a coalition of rising economies seeking greater influence within a world dominated by Western institutions. In 2024 and 2025, BRICS expanded to include new members such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia. Collectively, these nations now represent over 45% of the global population and account for more than 30% of the world’s GDP on a purchasing power parity basis.

BRICS’ contemporary agenda is ambitious: pushing for de-dollarization in international trade, promoting the use of alternative payment systems, and expanding the role of the New Development Bank in funding infrastructure and sustainable projects across the Global South. The group is also actively working towards reforms in global governance, seeking bigger roles in bodies like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the IMF.

The Quad’s Evolution and Objectives

The Quad—officially the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—unites Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Initially conceptualized to address common security concerns in the Indo-Pacific, the Quad now covers a broad spectrum, including technology, infrastructure, climate change, and, more recently, renewed security alliances and coordination.

2025 has seen a resurgence in focus under the renewed US administration, with the Quad moving towards more concrete security-related deliverables along with regional economic coordination. India, despite having no formal military alliance with any Quad member, is increasingly seen as a cornerstone partner, particularly for maritime security and technological cooperation.

Geo-Political Crossroads: India’s Strategic Dilemma

India finds itself in a complex position—deepening ties with the US and other Quad nations for economic and security technology while remaining a vital part of the BRICS initiative to reform the global economic order.

With the United States retaining its spot as the world’s largest economy ($29 trillion), China holding strong at $18 trillion, and India’s economy booming at a 6.5% growth rate in 2025, the stakes have never been higher. The uneven nature of this growth is increasing multipolarity, creating new centers of gravity in global politics.

Why India Can’t Choose Just One

India’s commitment to “strategic autonomy” is at the heart of its foreign policy. It supports the Quad to safeguard its maritime interests and balance China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, while also championing BRICS’ calls for a more equitable economic system and sounder South-South cooperation.

Giving up either platform risks losing major opportunities. The Quad offers India access to cutting-edge technology, defense frameworks, and a louder voice in Indo-Pacific affairs. BRICS, on the other hand, is vital for reforming global institutions, pushing back against dollar hegemony, and advancing development agendas in line with Indian interests.

Major Trends Driving Global Alliances

Today’s world is marked by resurging trade disputes, border tensions, technology races, and climate-induced migration. Power blocs like the Western alliance and the China-Russia axis are growing more assertive. The BRICS group has swelled to become the largest coalition outside the Western bloc, while the Quad has responded by intensifying its own integration and ambitions.

BRICS is now actively shifting industrial and technological partnerships inward, boosting collective autonomy in strategic sectors. The 2025 BRICS summit in Brazil focused on digital currencies, alternative settlement mechanisms, and energy security. At the same time, the Quad sharpened its approach towards maritime and supply-chain security and pressed for fairer participation in regional economic growth.

The Technology and Security Race

Control over advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing has emerged as a decisive issue. BRICS is plotting for technological autonomy, looking to create an integrated internal market within the bloc. The Quad, meanwhile, is channeling its joint resources towards developing secure digital infrastructure, critical technologies, and resilient supply chains resistant to coercion from any single power.

India’s agreements within the Quad have shifted towards specific, high-impact priorities—such as defense technology and secure semiconductors—while in BRICS, India has advocated for balanced technology access and South-South collaboration.

Common Misconceptions

One widespread misunderstanding is that India must ultimately “choose” between BRICS and the Quad. In reality, India benefits by remaining at the negotiating table in both camps, extracting diplomatic and economic advantages, and maintaining its much-valued autonomy.

A second misconception is that BRICS and the Quad are directly oppositional. While they represent contrasting visions for the global order, India’s involvement in each serves different facets of its national interest—economic, security, and developmental—which often do not conflict outright.

Internal Frictions and External Pressures

Despite positive rhetoric, both alliances face internal divisions. Within BRICS, diverging priorities—especially between China’s ambitions and India’s vision for multipolarity—lead to tensions. India has resisted the full de-dollarization push, wary of a Sino-centric replacement of Western dominance with Chinese dominance.

In the Quad, India often hesitates to deepen military cooperation beyond a point, preferring to maintain its independent defense policy and reluctance toward formal military alliances.

BRICS in 2025: Expansion, De-dollarization, and Economic Strategies

In July 2025, the BRICS summit in Brazil was marked by notable absences—both China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin did not attend in person. Nevertheless, the summit advanced key agendas: integrating new members, advancing de-dollarization with an emerging BRICS payment system, and proposing new strategies for multilateral governance reform.

The New Development Bank continues to expand its reach, with a focus on financing energy, renewables, and supply-chain projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. India has suggested incremental approaches for cross-border settlements in rupees and other national currencies, cautious to avoid abrupt shocks in international markets.

The Quad’s 2025 Reset: Prioritizing Security and Resilient Economies

The Quad, under pressure from changing US energy and technology policies, has retrenched to focus more on pragmatic deliverables in the Indo-Pacific, specifically maritime law enforcement and economic security. The group’s structure has been consolidated to prioritize fewer, high-impact projects with measurable outcomes, such as joint technology ventures and intelligence sharing.

India now hosts more Quad security exercises and is increasingly a sought-after partner in joint Indo-Pacific projects. Yet it continues to resist transforming the Quad into a formal military alliance, wary of disrupting its own security doctrines and regional relationships.

The Future: Will India Blink, or Will Alliances Adapt?

Why the Pressure Is Building

Multiple factors make India’s act harder each year. The US expects closer alignment on defense and advanced technology, especially as new tensions with major powers arise. China views India’s US-leaning moves with suspicion and leverages its influence inside BRICS to block Indian diplomatic priorities when convenient. Meanwhile, emerging conflicts—such as in Kashmir or the South China Sea—force India to take clearer positions.

What Happens If One Alliance Falters?

Should BRICS fracture over China’s leadership ambitions or over-enthusiastic expansion, India risks losing leverage for global governance reform and access to development financing tailored to non-Western needs. Conversely, if the Quad shifts decisively towards becoming a rigid military bloc, India may be pushed into defensive postures, risking vital flexibility in its global relationships and regional diplomacy.

The most likely scenario is adaptation: both groupings will gradually shift strategies to accommodate India’s priorities, recognizing its pivotal economic weight and population. As long as India maintains strong growth and diplomatic clout, neither the Quad nor BRICS is likely to “blink” first. Instead, they will keep reinventing themselves to keep India engaged and cooperative.

In the end, India’s strategy is not about choosing sides, but about getting the most out of every side. By staying at both tables, India amplifies its own interests, shapes the rules, and ensures its people benefit from a fast-changing world. In 2025, as alliances evolve and new threats test old loyalties, India’s balancing act—rooted in self-interest and guided by a vision for multipolarity—may just be the new gold standard for emerging powers everywhere.