India, Sept. 15 -- India used the final day of the BRICS summit for outreach to regional powers across the Global South. Can Delhi now turn diplomatic goodwill into tangible outcomes?

A day after leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration, Modi used the summit's final day, alongside the open session for BRICS members and partners, to work through seven bilateral meetings - with leaders and delegations from South Africa, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Egypt, the Philippines and more.

This was not summit choreography. It was India using its year as BRICS chair to conduct retail diplomacy with the Global South at a scale few hosts have attempted. The guest list was not random. Cyril Ramaphosa's South Africa is BRICS' founding African anchor and the c...