We came across several posts on TikTok and X claiming that India has been removed from the core committee of BRICS – a prominent informal alliance of emerging economies.

BRICS is an acronym representing the organisation’s founding members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In 2024, the alliance expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. With these additions, BRICS now accounts for over 40 per cent of the world’s population and approximately 37.3 per cent of the world’s economy.

BRICS is gradually being recognised as a counterbalance to traditional Western economic blocs, like the Group of Seven (G7). Recently, ASEAN countries such as Malaysia and Thailand have shown interest in joining the alliance, with Thailand formally drafting a letter of intent to become a member. As the bloc’s prominence and influence continue to grow, India’s alleged exclusion, if true, could carry significant economic and geopolitical consequences for the broader alliance, such as weakened collective bargaining power in global trade and finance.

Tracing the source

Upon reviewing the posts, we noticed that these claims seem to have originated from accounts with an apparent anti-India bias and pro-Pakistan stance. The relationship between Pakistan and India has been historically complex and often hostile, dating back to the bifurcation of India and the establishment of the two nations in 1947. This fraught relationship has led to conflicts in 1965, 1971 and 1999, as well as terrorist attacks in 2008 and 2019.

Has India been removed from BRICS?

We observed that the posts claiming India’s removal from the BRICS core committee lacked links to any news articles or credible sources to substantiate their assertions. At the time of writing this fact-check, there were no reports confirming India’s exclusion from any core committee or from BRICS itself.

Additionally, there were no references to a “core committee” within BRICS, and the concept of such a committee remains unclear. There is no official mention of such a body within BRICS, and it is uncertain whether the term refers to the alliance’s founding members or something else entirely.

Similar to the structure of ASEAN, member states rotate the organisation’s chairmanship and host annual summits. India was represented at the latest BRICS Summit, which took place in Kazan, Russia, from 22 – 24 October 2024, as confirmed by media reports and photographs from the event.

Furthermore, there have been no announcements regarding India’s departure from BRICS in any official documents or statements on the BRICS 2024 Summit website, which has continued to be updated with news about ongoing conferences and working group meetings throughout November 2024.

Therefore, the claim that India has been removed from BRICS or its “core committee” is likely false. Based on our review of official sources, media reports, and the structure of BRICS, there is no evidence to support the claim of India’s exclusion.