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Sam Beltran

President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to be the first Philippine leader to join the Brics Summit in New Delhi this weekend – presenting him with the perfect “low-risk opportunity” to engage the grouping as Manila continues to diversify its ties, analysts say.
“The president seeks to ensure that our modern partnerships remain open, resilient and capable of delivering prosperity to our people,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Analyn Ratonel said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“This participation is a strategic opportunity to monitor emerging economic frameworks and to represent the priorities and perspectives of the region, while directly engaging leaders of major emerging economies.”
Brics, an international organisation formed in 2009 of emerging economies, currently counts Brazil, Russia, India, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates among its members.
While Marcos is attending the event in his capacity as Asean chair, he is also scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business executives on the sidelines. Issues to be discussed include the progress of the Philippines-India Strategic Partnership, a review of the implementation of an action plan for 2025 to 2029, and a follow-up with business leaders on the US$5.8 billion investment pledges Marcos secured during a state visit to India in August last year.

Analysts say the summit is Marcos’ chance to engage Brics members and diversify beyond its traditional ties with the US amid geopolitical tensions with China. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to be attending, marking his first trip to India in seven years.
“The Asean chairship provides President Marcos with a relatively low-risk opportunity to engage Brics more closely without necessarily signalling that the Philippines is already moving towards membership or changing its broader strategic orientation,” said Enrico Gloria, an assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
The engagement was “not particularly unusual” given that Association of Southeast Asian Nations members already have varying degrees of ties with Brics, he said. Indonesia is a full member and Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are partner countries. “For the Philippines, this is less as choosing another geopolitical camp and more as a way for it to continue diversifying its partnerships.”
‘Friends to all’
Marcos’ attendance reflected his “friends to all and enemy to none” stance on foreign policy, said Chester Cabalza, founder and president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation. Under Marcos, the Philippines has signed defence pacts with countries such as Japan, Canada, New Zealand and France.
“Marcos should not ignore this opportunity, not only because he represents Asean, but also due to India’s benevolent acts to the Philippines. The Philippines has India to thank for the Brahmos missiles,” he said. “The growing economic potential of Brics is unprecedented in terms of its energy and AI global outputs.”
For a smaller power such as the Philippines, “expanding the number of countries and institutions it can work with increases its room to manoeuvre”, Gloria said.
Last year, Marcos said he was open to considering Brics membership for the Philippines. But this visit appeared to be “exploratory rather than preparatory”, Gloria said, adding it was not “evidence that Manila is already moving towards a formal plan of accession”.

There is an important difference between being open to something and having made it a foreign-policy objective. Marcos himself framed it last year largely in terms of giving the Philippines more options, rather than announcing an intention to join,” he said.
This is a good chance to re-engage China and India amid uncertainties from the global oil crisis, according to Cabalza. “Manila should learn from India’s non-alignment policy even as Delhi experienced a territorial rift with Beijing in 2000,” he said. “Navigating this tedious diplomatic stunt is important for a country that needs to bring home barrels of oil, employment through investments, and latest AI protocols.”
Despite the finalisation of the code of conduct in the South China Sea remaining an Asean priority, it was unlikely that Marcos would tackle China on maritime issues, he added. “He is going to India as Asean chair, so Marcos’ policy recommendations and contributions to the conversation must attribute to the needs of Asean. He is a statesman from Southeast Asia and not only of the Philippines in that summit.”
Beyond India
One of the most consequential goals of Marcos’ visit would be a deepening engagement with India, both analysts said.
“⁠Following up on the Indian investment commitments should certainly be one of the most tangible objectives of the visit,” Gloria said. “A meeting with Prime Minister Modi offers an important opportunity to assess how much of that potential can actually move towards implementation.”
Manila can also explore further partnerships with India – especially as it looks to strengthen its position as a hub for diversified supply chains. One possibility is the multi-country Pax Silica initiative to secure global supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals.
“This could help move the conversation beyond individual investment pledges towards a more strategic discussion of how Philippine-Indian economic cooperation can contribute to more resilient and diversified regional supply chains,” Gloria said.

Predicting that India would be the “future second-largest economy of the world”, Cabalza said it would be good to “enhance our ties to secure investments in agriculture, business process outsourcing, medical and spaceport ventures”.
However, Gloria cautioned that the Philippines should not focus solely on India as the forum presented a chance for Manila to develop a diverse range of partners beyond traditionally aligned states.
“One weakness of Philippine foreign relations historically has been the concentration of our diplomatic emphasis and economic attention on a relatively small number of major partners. A more multipolar world requires the Philippines to develop a multipolar diplomatic portfolio as well,” he said.
“As the current Asean chair, the Philippines is poised to leverage that institutional power not just for the region but for its own interests as well to diversify existing partnerships.”


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The president, attending in his capacity as Asean chair, should not miss the opportunity to diversify ties beyond the US, analysts say


The president, attending in his capacity as Asean chair, should not miss the opportunity to diversify ties beyond the US, analysts say.


Why Marcos’ Brics trip is ‘low-risk opportunity’ for Philippines to make new friends

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The president, attending in his capacity as Asean chair, should not miss the opportunity to diversify ties beyond the US, analysts say

The president, attending in his capacity as Asean chair, should not miss the opportunity to diversify ties beyond the US, analysts say