Old Roots, New Routes, connecting continents through BRICS - Ethiopia and India
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT - Deputy Editor, Ethiopian Herald
14 September 2026
Known for their ancient civilizations and rich indigenous cultures, Ethiopia and India have turned old trade routes into new foundations for an alliance connecting Africa and Asia. The longstanding ties between Addis Ababa and New Delhi go far beyond modern diplomacy, predating the opening of embassies and the raising of flags in each other's capitals.
Long before official visits, well before borders became fixed and air travel brought the two countries closer, their peoples were already connected through trade across the Indian Ocean. Over the centuries, Ethiopia and India became important links between the two vast continents.
From the exchange of goods and knowledge to resistance against colonialism and participation in the Non-Aligned Movement, the two countries share striking similarities. Separated geographically but connected historically, they have built strong ties, with leaders from both countries regularly including the other in their diplomatic itineraries.
Ethiopian and Indian traders exchanged commodities and took part in maritime networks linking Africa, Arabia and South Asia. These connections were not based on modern political alliances, they grew out of commerce, curiosity and the practical reality that the Indian Ocean brought different peoples into contact.
India and Ethiopia established diplomatic relations in 1950, and political contacts gradually expanded. Emperor Haile Selassie visited India, while Indian leaders also developed close relations with Ethiopia.
Perhaps more important than official diplomatic exchanges, was the human connection created through education.
For generations, Indian teachers worked in Ethiopian schools and institutions. Indian professionals, academics and educators became familiar figures in Ethiopian society, while Ethiopian students travelled to India for education and technical training. These exchanges created something that cannot easily be measured in trade statistics: familiarity and trust between people.
India's development partnership with Ethiopia later expanded into areas including agriculture, manufacturing, education, healthcare, infrastructure, science and technology. Indian development assistance and lines of credit supported projects ranging from rural electrification to industrial production.
The Indian approach has often placed strong emphasis on training and capacity building. Rather than simply delivering completed projects, cooperation has frequently focused on developing skills and institutions that can continue to operate after external support ends.
While India and Ethiopia have been strengthening their bilateral relationship, another major shift was taking place in international politics. BRICS began as BRIC, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa later joined, turning BRIC into BRICS.
For many years, the group remained relatively small, but its ambitions extended well beyond its membership. BRICS emerged partly from growing frustration among major developing countries that institutions governing the global economy did not adequately reflect the economic and demographic realities of the twenty-first century.
The IMF, World Bank and other international institutions were created in a very different era. Many developing countries argue that their representation and influence within these institutions remain inadequate.
BRICS therefore became a forum where countries could discuss alternative approaches to global governance. A major turning point came with the expansion of the group.
Ethiopia became a full BRICS member in January 2024, alongside Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia subsequently joined, while Saudi Arabia's position has remained subject to some ambiguity. The expanded grouping is commonly referred to as BRICS+.
Africa's relationship with BRICS is particularly significant because the continent has historically had limited influence over the institutions of the global economic system.
Africa needs investment, infrastructure, energy, industrialisation, technology and access to markets. At the same time, African governments increasingly want greater control over their economic and foreign-policy choices. BRICS offers another platform for pursuing those interests.
With South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia now inside the group, Africa has a stronger presence within BRICS than it did in the bloc's earlier years. The attraction is understandable.
African countries can potentially gain access to new sources of development finance, investment, technology and trade. They can deepen relationships with China and India while also expanding links with Brazil, Russia, the Gulf countries and other emerging economies.
The New Development Bank is particularly important in this context because it offers an additional source of development financing outside the traditional Bretton Woods institutions. But perhaps the greater attraction is political. For many African countries, BRICS represents the possibility of having more than one door through which to engage with the world.
The fact that India and Ethiopia are now both BRICS members gives their bilateral relationship another dimension.
India brings substantial economic, technological and industrial capabilities. Ethiopia brings a strategic location, a large and growing market, diplomatic importance in Africa and proximity to the institutions of the African Union.
Together, the two countries could deepen cooperation in areas such as digital public infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, manufacturing and renewable energy.
The BRICS framework can also give India-Africa cooperation a broader platform.
The rise of BRICS does not mean that the existing Western-led international system is about to disappear. The United States, European Union, World Bank, IMF and other institutions remain highly influential. But the global balance is becoming more dispersed.
China has become a major economic power. India is rising rapidly. African countries are demanding greater representation. Gulf states are expanding their global influence, while Latin American countries are seeking greater strategic autonomy. BRICS is one expression of this wider shift.
The bloc accounts for nearly half the world's population, 40 percent of global output in purchasing power terms, 44 percent of oil production and about a quarter of world trade, according to Imran Khalid, a geostrategic analyst and senior fellow at Foreign Policy in Focus. The 11-member grouping is growing at about 3.7 percent this year, compared with 1 percent for the G7, according to IMF figures, he added.
Against this background, India hosted the 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The summit came at a time when BRICS was much larger and more politically diverse than it had been only a few years earlier.
Held under India's presidency on September 12–13, 2026, the summit brought together BRICS leaders under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
The gathering was led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other leaders. The summit concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration.
Speaking at the summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for reforms to the international financial system, stronger cooperation among BRICS members and a practical coordination mechanism ahead of Ethiopia's hosting of COP32 in Addis Ababa in 2027.
Addressing leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping, Abiy drew on Ethiopia's recent experience with economic reform and external debt restructuring to argue that global financial institutions must become more responsive to countries facing economic pressure.
“For any economy under pressure, time is a cost,” Abiy said, calling for debt-resolution mechanisms that are faster, more transparent and more predictable. He also argued that greater representation of developing countries in global financial institutions should lead to better outcomes for economies that rely on those institutions.
Abiy linked the issue to wider BRICS efforts to reshape international economic cooperation. He proposed making cross-border payments easier and expanding the use of local currencies where this could reduce transaction costs and support trade among member states.
He also outlined areas where Ethiopia sees opportunities for deeper cooperation within BRICS. He pointed to critical minerals as a major area of potential partnership, noting that the global energy transition, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy increasingly depend on mineral resources.
While many of these resources are found in Africa, BRICS countries possess capital, technology and markets that could help resource-producing economies create greater value from them.
Ethiopia, he said, was prepared to build partnerships in minerals, renewable energy and industrial development. He also highlighted the country's connectivity assets, including Ethiopian Airlines, electricity links with neighbouring countries and Addis Ababa's position as the headquarters of the African Union.
Abiy called for stronger consultation between BRICS and the African Union to ensure that cooperation with Africa is aligned with the continent's Agenda 2063.
Africa, he said, should not merely consume AI technologies but participate in developing them. Ethiopia's Maddamer University of Artificial Intelligence was presented as part of that ambition, with Abiy calling for cooperation with BRICS institutions to develop AI systems capable of better understanding and serving African societies.
He also reaffirmed Ethiopia's support for ethical and human-centred AI governance, while stressing that governance must be matched by technological capacity.
With Ethiopia preparing to host COP32 in Addis Ababa in 2027, Abiy proposed a BRICS coordination track leading up to the conference. The mechanism, he said, could provide a practical process for turning shared climate and development priorities into areas of agreement.
He called for stronger adaptation measures and climate finance that could help vulnerable countries strengthen their economies without increasing their debt burdens. Ethiopia, he said, wanted COP32 to focus on “delivery and hope.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, used the summit's opening session to emphasise resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability as the foundations of BRICS' contribution to global growth.
Modi said conflicts, pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions had demonstrated the vulnerability of an interconnected world. He highlighted BRICS initiatives on infectious-disease early warning, disaster-management data, and resilient logistics and supply chains.
He argued that solutions developed within BRICS should not remain limited to member states but should be adaptable and accessible to countries across the Global South. Modi said confidence in BRICS had grown because developing countries increasingly felt that their voices and experiences were being heard.
“While strengthening BRICS, we must also determine the direction of global reform,” Modi said. “The Global South is today in the front row when it comes to global crises, but in the back row when it comes to decision-making. We have to transform this pyramid and privilege into a platform of partnership — where every country has a voice, every member has a stake.”
Modi also reiterated India's longstanding demand for expansion of the UN Security Council, including permanent seats for itself and other emerging powers, saying that reform of the Security Council could no longer be delayed.
“The message of this BRICS Summit being held in India should be clear: If our future is shared, then the right to shape that future must also be shared,” Modi said.
The summit also reflected the bloc's broader ambition to increase the influence of emerging and developing economies in global institutions. BRICS has advocated reforms to organisations including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for greater representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America on the UN Security Council, while Chinese President Xi Jinping urged BRICS countries to promote greater equity and justice in the international order. Modi similarly called for the Global South to move from being a “rule-taker” to a “rule-shaper.”
At the same time, India sought to portray BRICS as a platform for cooperation rather than confrontation with Western powers. Modi stressed that members could advance their interests without positioning the grouping against others.
The summit highlighted an increasingly ambitious BRICS agenda: reforming global financial governance, strengthening economic resilience, expanding trade and payment cooperation, developing technological and AI capacity, and coordinating climate action.
For Ethiopia, its role in the grouping is closely tied to its own economic reforms and preparations to host COP32. This gives Abiy's intervention a strong focus on turning BRICS cooperation into practical outcomes for Africa and the wider Global South.
The 18th BRICS Summit concluded in New Delhi with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration. The declaration reaffirms the bloc's commitment to strengthening cooperation, promoting inclusive development and advancing a more representative and responsive international order.
It also reiterates the principles of mutual respect and understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, openness, inclusiveness, collaboration and consensus, while setting out shared priorities and the future direction of BRICS cooperation.