India, Sept. 20 -- For decades, the rules of global knowledge have largely been written by a small circle of powerful institutions. They influence which universities are considered 'world-class' and even which traditions are recognized as legitimate knowledge. The recent New Delhi Declaration suggests that BRICS wants a greater role in rewriting those rules. That ambition cannot be dismissed as symbolism. BRICS brings together approximately half of the world's population, while its combined economic weight, measured in purchasing power parity terms, has surpassed that of the G7. Its challenge now is to convert this demographic and economic scale into intellectual and scientific capacity. This is what makes the education and research commi...