BRICS summit in Delhi has unanimously adopted a declaration. This showcases India’s diplomatic skills in forging agreement among a diverse set of nations. This required skirting around key current global issues.Because of the diversity of interests amongst the BRICS nations, agreement could be arrived at only on non-contentious issues and in generalities regarding major issues. Who would disagree that terrorism should be condemned? But, neither specific instances are flagged nor specific actions proposed against perpetrators. So, the 32-page 140-para New Delhi declaration mentions everything for the sake of completeness – issues related to women, youth, AI, climate change, democratisation, governance, inequality, trade, technology, etc. are all there. Several groups and task forces are to look at them. This way concrete action has been postponed even though what needs to be done is known. And, contentious implementation mechanisms were not required to be spelt out.One may ask in that order, what is in the declaration for BRICS as a grouping, for India and for Indian masses? Even if there is little specific, the grouping provides comfort to individual members that they have a forum to exchange ideas, given the turmoil in the world especially with US President Donald Trump’s ascendency. Iran, Russia and China who are under attack by the rich nations to varying extent can show that they are not isolated.Also read: BRICS and the BJP’s Ceiling on India’s Ambition: The Case for a Grand StrategyBRICS is dominated by China with its economy larger than the rest put together. It along with Russia is technologically much more advanced than the rest. The two are also close allies. The rest of the nations in the grouping have an asymmetric relationship with them. While the two have much to offer to others, the rest have little to put on the table except their markets.India cannot match what China and Russia have to offer so it cannot enforce its will in the grouping. As chairperson it was at the center of the negotiations regarding the declaration but concretely, it could not push its agenda and got little from the grouping. And, the marginalised Indians will continue to bear the consequences of India’s weakness in the world affairs. Anyway, the grouping is of capitalist nations who do not give concessions for free, so the marginalised get squeezed.Divided diplomacyCurrently with a new Cold War brewing between two major capitalist blocs, the eleven BRICS members with divergent interests and alliances had to indirectly refer to issues to arrive at an agreement. While China, Russia and Iran are ranged against the rich nations’ bloc, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE are allies of USA and the rich nations. India has been substantially aligned to the US in the last two decades even though there is some distancing of late under Trump 2.0. And, Brazil, South Africa, Ethiopia and Indonesia are largely equidistant.So, on the most consequential global issues of conflicts, technology, finance, rising inequality, etc., a direct reference and action was not feasible within BRICS? That is why, the BRICS foreign ministers who met on May 14 and 15 could not issue a joint communique due to the differences on the ongoing conflict in West Asia. UAE and Iran could not agree on the wording. This is understandable since for Iran there is a threat to its sovereignty while UAE hosts US bases and Iran has attacked them. To get agreement, the statement in paras 28 to 30 are in generalities. It expresses, ‘…concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia. … call for exercising maximum restraint’. And in para 29, ‘… concern over deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities…’. No responsibility for the escalation of tensions and attacks is fixed. So, Iran and UAE agreed. Further, their leaders met on the side-lines and they agreed to forget the past and move forward – whatever that means. The mandarins of Ministry of External Affairs claimed a victory in getting the declaration unanimously approved. However, what this statement represents is a helplessness of BRICS to take a clear stand on such a critical issue because what happens between Iran and UAE depends on what the unpredictable US does. If Iran is again attacked by the US from its bases in UAE, Iran will also attack the bases. If Iran does not respond, it will be a free pass for the US. The talk between the leaders will not matter.In para 13, support is expressed for membership of Brazil and India in the Security Council. But without the US agreeing can this happen? Even China will oppose India’s entry. Can BRICS make this happen?Financial framework unchangedFor all the talk of need for equity, the declaration accepts the financial framework of Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) and asks for greater voice fir the South. But, why would the rich nations concede that unless they are compelled to do so. And, when BRICS shies from even referring to de-dollarisation, what is there to reduce the hold of US over the global financial relations. The threat of truncation of sovereignty of nations of South would persist.In para 15, concern is expressed about ‘… extreme poverty, … global inequality and … inequality within and among countries’. The declaration says, ‘… establish an international panel on inequality’. This is kicking the can down the road. How to eliminate poverty and inequality is well known. But the BRICS declaration does not spell it out. Because it is a grouping of capitalist nations and its rulers have their political economy to cater to. Unemployment and poverty keep wages down to enable businesses to get cheap labour and the rulers get their servants to enable a life of comfort. None of them practice equity in their own country not to talk of across nations. They follow a policy of beggar thy neighbour to gain advantage in the export markets. No wonder inequality has been on the rise within the nations.They allow the domination of International Finance Capital via its institutions – IMF and World Bank. These institutions have imposed conditionalities that truncate the sovereignty of developing nations. This truncation is not resisted by the ruling elite of these nations since they are consistent with their own view of what ‘development’ means – dichotomous and marginalising.So, what do the BRICS leaders want? To become equal partners in these institutions. This is the reform they are proposing. In para 17, the declaration says, ‘… make international financial institutions more representative… BWI governance structure should be reformed…’. Para 18, talks of ‘IMF Quota and Governance Reform… meaningful quota share realignment and governance reforms…’BRICS is not asking for an overhaul of the highly unequal global economic system. BRICS is not proposing the setting up of new non-exploitative institutions to replace the existing highly exploitative BWI. There is no blueprint of reform?In the context of imposition of sanctions, Para 22 says, ‘We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures that are contrary to international law …’. It takes care of what Iran and Russia face presently. But, the global issue is the weakening of labour and ascendency of capital due to its mobility and its ability to extract concessions from nation states. It has led to ‘race to the bottom’ and BEPS. These have drained resources from the public sector which has weakened public services that directly support the marginalized in each country. This is a key reason for the worsening condition of marginalised sections. The BWI conditionalities on nations impose austerity on labour while granting concessions to capital. So, with BRICS not proposing real reform, the marginalised sections would continue to lose?Elephant in the roomBe that as it may, the elephant in the room continues to be technology and the ongoing AI revolution. Change is occurring in months, not decades. A threat to human existence has been speculated since November 2022 when Open AI unveiled GPT-4. The race has accelerated since then with tech companies in China and the US unveiling DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini, etc. Robotics is advancing rapidly. Other technologies like quantum computing are evolving rapidly with positive feedback among various technologies. It is said that the world is in a singularity and it is unclear where the world is headed. Just in the last few days, CEOs of tech companies have expressed the fear that human race may be eliminated by AI. Hinton, the father of AI has been warning of this eventuality since 2023. BRICS nations needed to take a view on this which is now more pressing than any other matter. AI is being used to fight wars, create fake news, interfere in elections, create social and political disruptions, etc. Paragraph 81 of the declaration blandly mentions the ‘potential risk’ but nothing more. There is lack of urgency and therefore action is not spelt out.Also read: Did the BRICS Advance their Founders’ Vision and Objectives in New Delhi?President Trump has said the US will not slow down so, China also cannot slow down. If those talking of the risk to humanity are correct, then this race will drive the world towards a catastrophe. The Precautionary principle says that even if there is a 1% chance that this may be true, this is not the risk the world should take. The development of AI needs to stop till we understand it better.The development of AI will only stop if all countries agree. How to achieve that consensus required spelling out a framework and that should have been the most urgent task of BRICS. It is not good enough to talk of an open architecture as China has said. Nations suspect that is a ploy to get others on board to enhance one’s own capability. The declaration talks of the great progress that AI can lead to like, in the medical field and in education but that misses the point of the overarching threat AI is posing to humanity.In brief, the declaration takes a myopic view of the world and is full of generalities since the group is too diverse to agree to specifics. It reiterates many steps proposed earlier without reviewing the progress on those suggestions. It talks of task forces and working groups to be set up – a way to postpone action. Concretely, there is no proposal to create a different financial architecture which will help nations regain their sovereignty to benefit their people. BRICS does not oppose International Finance Capital and only wants better representation for its members in BWI. This is understandable given that the BRICS nations are capitalist and their agenda is neither equity nor welfare of their own workers and farmers. Finally, their narrow focus prevents them from perceiving the existential threat AI is posing and which requires urgent action.Arun Kumar is the author of Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: The Impact of the Coronavirus and the Road Ahead’.