India, July 5 -- Within a span of three weeks, India would have straddled two worlds and two realities of the G7 and Brics groupings. The seamless progression of India as a systemically important economy, vital for global economic health and courted by all sides is a reality that has now come to be accepted as the new norm. The forthcoming visit to Brazil by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi for the 17th Brics Summit will be his second successive visit to the western hemisphere in these weeks, but the contrast between the outings is striking. At the G7 Summit in Canada, India was on the outside, yet to be baptised as an equal. In the other, India is a founder and insider. One will be a State visit, embellished with the award of the country's highest civilian honour for foreign nationals. The other had a tentative touch to it. Neither the spectre of a tense political relationship with the host government nor of anti-Indian demonstrations by separatist groups nor the irritation of unsolicited offers of mediation between India and Pakistan hang upon the PM's visit to Brazil. Indeed, the air is more relaxed. What, however, does cast a shadow over the Brazil Brics Summit is the persona of President Donald Trump. In February this year, the US President called Brics dead, and threatened its members with suspension of trade with the US or hundred percent tariffs if Brics moved towards an alternative currency challenging the dollar's hegemony. In this way, he positioned Brics as being against US interests. His message was clear but so has been the message from the unprecedented expansion of Brics. Brics is today larger and more representative than ever before, with 11 members, 13 Partner countries, and more than 30 aspirants. Many of the new entrants are close friends of the US, and have significant trade and financial ties with it. The world's largest energy producers and consumers sit together in the room. Their argument is that it is the weaponisation of the dollar that is pushing countries to hedge, derisk and discuss alternatives. Brics has survived 16 years of western demonisation and scepticism. It today accounts for 40% of the share of the global economy in PPP terms. India and China alone account for well over half its population. Brics will survive the Trump era, not because it seeks confrontation but because it represents a deeper structural shift towards a multi-polar world. It has struck a chord and given voice to countries across regions, with different systems and foreign policy orientations. These countries also do not want to be sucked into another Cold War, and they are sharp enough to see the straws in the wind when the US President made a pitch for the return of Russia to the G7 and entry of China in it at the G7 Kananaskis Summit. Transactionalism has no boundaries. It is worth reminding ourselves that the whole idea behind the G20 was to provide a common platform for the G7 and Brics nations. In fact, the economic integration between the G7 and Brics is a living reality, and there are overlapping interests. The fact that both these groups still feel the need to maintain their individual identities reflects the divided, suspicious and broken world we live in. The expansion of Brics is taking it into uncharted territory. Its members have political differences and even disputes among them. The Brazil and subsequent summits will be watched for their outcomes and deliberations on its main pillars of political and security, economic and financial, cultural and people-to-people cooperation. Brics goals are unexceptionable - promotion of peace, a more representative, fairer international order, a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, sustainable development and inclusive growth. Yet, even with a smaller membership, institution building within Brics has been modest. Since the first summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009, India has attended all summits at the prime ministerial level. This is a unique record, unmatched even by the presidents of Russia and China. With every passing year, India's heft in the grouping has grown, riding on the growth of its economy from $1.3 trillion in 2009 to over $4 trillion now. India has been a forceful advocate of the interests of the South, and has challenged even the Permanent UN Security Council Members within Brics to lead reform of UN bodies. It has put forward its concerns over terrorism, climate justice and economic development. It has offered its own successes and solutions to others. It is not an agent provocateur, and nor will it allow Brics to be hijacked to advance geopolitical agendas. It is not an advocate of de-dollarisation, not out of love for the dollar but out of hard realism about what could replace it. This does not mean India will not work towards greater use of the rupee in settlement of international transactions. At a macro level, India will knock on all doors to promote its national goals as a bridging strategy in a longer game. India will assume chair of Brics next year. The absence of the Chinese president in Brazil is noteworthy. The Russian president will attend only virtually. This is an opportunity for PM Modi to play a leading role along with other major countries of the South in guiding Brics in its expanded form. The global outlook is fraught with risk and uncertainty. There is acute policy uncertainty resulting in weak investor sentiment and low levels of confidence in the world economy. The world needs help, and any effort to calm rather than inflame tensions and fault lines needs to be welcomed....