KINA OCH INDIEN: HINDER ELLER FRAMGÅNG FÖR BRICS? : Bilaterala utrikespolitiska skillnader och betydelser för blockets roll i en multipolär världsordning

Sammanfattning

This study examines how China and India use BRICS as a multilateral forum in the context of changes in the global power order. The purpose of the study is to analyze how cooperation and competition coexist within BRICS and how these dynamics can be understood through Power Transition Theory. By applying the theory in its developed form, which emphasizes institutional integration rather than direct confrontation, the study seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how rising powers navigate periods of power transition. The study is based on a qualitative document analysis of official BRICS declarations, ministerial statements, and foreign policy documents from China and India. This empirical material is analyzed through a theoretical framework grounded in Power Transition Theory, with a particular focus on concepts such as power transition, institutional integration, and revisionism. The analysis shows that BRICS functions as an institutional arena where both cooperation and competition coexist. China emerges as a rising power with revisionist ambitions that are primarily expressed through institutional strategies aimed at reforming global governance structures. India, by contrast, adopts a more balancing approach, using BRICS to enhance its institutional influence while maintaining strategic autonomy and avoiding direct confrontation. Despite underlying bilateral tensions, BRICS enables continued cooperation through pragmatic and interest-based engagement. The findings suggest that BRICS should not be understood solely as an economic cooperation forum, but rather as an institutional mechanism through which rising powers manage power asymmetries and pursue gradual system change. The study demonstrates that Power Transition Theory, in its developed form, provides a useful analytical framework for understanding the role of multilateral institutions in a multipolar international order