BRICS Surpasses G7 in PPP Output as Russia Becomes Key Oil Supplier to India

As India hosts the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, new IMF data reveals the bloc's combined purchasing-power parity economic output has reached $88 trillion, significantly surpassing the G7's $62 trillion. This shift highlights the growing economic weight of emerging economies, which now represent nearly half the global population. A central focus of the summit is India's deepening energy reliance on Russia, which now accounts for 25% of India's oil imports, a fourteen-fold increase since 2022. This dependency has intensified amid tensions in West Asia, particularly following Iran's partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March 2026. While the US Treasury sanctioned major Russian oil firms, it granted India a temporary waiver to maintain energy security. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized Western pressure as unfair competition, asserting that bilateral arrangements would remain unaffected. The diplomatic proceedings occur alongside high-level US-China talks in Beijing, where leaders agreed on the necessity of keeping maritime routes open, underscoring the complex geopolitical balancing act India performs between Western alliances and BRICS partnerships.