BRICS did not form with a treaty or a grand diplomatic bargain. The need for BRIC was recognised as the balance of the global economy began to shift. In 2001, Terence James O’Neill coined the term BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in his Goldman Sachs paper entitled “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs,” drawing attention to the growing economic weight of four emerging powers and its implications for global governance. Initially, BRIC began as an economic proposition but gradually acquired a political dimension, as the four states increasingly recognised the benefits of coordinating their positions and seeking greater influence in the institutions that shape global affairs.
The emergence of BRIC was preceded by an important phase of cooperation among Russia, India and China under the RIC framework. The three countries had already been exploring greater coordination on…
