BRICS is playing a double game — and at this point, most analysts are not even pretending otherwise. The bloc pushes de-dollarization, builds gold reserves at a record pace, and talks up a multipolar financial order. At the same time, it softens declarations under tariff pressure, takes eleven days to respond when a member state is attacked, and lets bilateral interests win over bloc solidarity. What makes BRICS playing a double game so hard to ignore is how structural it is. BRICS credibility is what takes the hit, every single time.

Also Read:BRICS in Crisis: Member Struck, But the Bloc Stayed Silent

At the 2025 Rio Summit, BRICS playing a double game was on full display. The joint declaration carefully avoided naming the United States, even while referencing what it called “serious concerns” about rising tariffs. That calculated restraint did not go unnoticed in Washington.

US President Donald Trump stated:

“Any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an additional 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy.”

And India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, whose country chairs the bloc right now, had already made the actual position clear:

S. Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister, stated:

“The dollar as the reserve currency is the source of global economic stability, and right now, what we want in the world is more economic stability, not less.”

That is the double game BRICS is playing, said out loud by one of its own chairs. The bloc wants reform — just not badly enough to pay for it.

The BRICS Iran situation made it sharper still. Iran joined the bloc in 2024, and when it came under attack in mid-2025, BRICS needed eleven days to produce a collective response — a statement that also managed to name no aggressor. The BRICS Iran crisis exposed something analysts had flagged for years: this is not a values-based coalition. India upgraded ties with Israel in the same period and also condemned Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes on the UAE, which is also a BRICS member. BRICS was playing a double game in the middle of a live conflict involving one of its own.

Source: Watcher Guru