The Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) has established itself as a multilateral organisation distinct from others, evident from its 16th meeting in Kazan (Russia). The BRICS difference can be read as decolonised multilateralism with intent and behaviour as an interdependent, plural grouping, committed to development linked to the global South. This meeting comes at a conjuncture when unipolar hegemony is challenged by different actors. The Kazan meeting was attended by United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres and heads of the BRICS states, including new and aspiring members making it BRICS+.
The growing importance of BRICS financial institutions indicates a gradual democratisation of the global financial landscape, where multiple currencies can be used, and countries’ strategic reserves can shift location and holding pattern, thereby providing a material basis to multipolarity.