India’s Trade Relation with BRICS Countries and Issues of Sustainability

This study is an attempt to analyze the significance of India’s trade relations with other BRICS nations in terms of sustainability. To examine the sustainability of India in BRICS nations, a time duration ranging between 1995 to 2018 has been taken. The time horizon has been divided into two parts as pre and post formation of BRICS group, which makes it easier to determine the sustainability of India in this organization. The question of sustainability arises because of the heterogeneity in the character of all the member countries of BRICS. Statistical tools like trade intensity index, and correlation has been used to understand the degree of intensity of trade and inter-dependency of member countries in terms of trade. The findings of the study suggest that there is great mutual dependency among the BRICS nations except China. On the basis of analysis of trends in trade and trade intensity it can be concluded that the effectiveness of BRICS is limited and several questions can be raised on the significance of BRICS as a group.