International Groupings: Notes on G20, BRICS, SCO, Quad, ASEAN, SAARC, BIMSTEC & G7

How to study a grouping

Summits come and go, but questions about a grouping keep returning to the same five points: when and where it was founded, where its secretariat sits, who the members are, what its key institutions are, and how India is linked to it. Build one row for each grouping and revise the table, not the news story.

G20 and G7

The G20 began in 1999 as a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors after the Asian financial crisis, and was raised to leaders' level in 2008 (Washington) during the global financial crisis. It has 19 countries plus the European Union and, since the New Delhi summit of September 2023, the African Union. There is no permanent secretariat: the presidency rotates every year, supported by a troika of the past, current and next presidents. India's 2023 presidency used the theme 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future'.

The G7 grew out of a 1975 meeting of six industrial democracies at Rambouillet; Canada joined in 1976. Members: USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, with the EU taking part. Russia's membership (G8) was suspended in 2014. India is often invited as an outreach partner.

BRICS and the New Development Bank

The term BRIC was coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill. Brazil, Russia, India and China held their first summit at Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009; South Africa joined in 2010. At the 2014 Fortaleza summit the members signed the agreement for the New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai; its first president was India's K.V. Kamath. India hosted BRICS summits in New Delhi (2012), Goa (2016) and virtually from New Delhi (2021), and holds the BRICS chair again in 2026. BRICS began admitting new members from 2024, so check the current member list close to your exam.

SCO

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in Shanghai in June 2001, growing out of the Shanghai Five (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) plus Uzbekistan. Its two permanent bodies are the Secretariat in Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent, which targets the 'three evils' of terrorism, separatism and extremism. India and Pakistan became observers in 2005 and full members at the Astana summit in 2017. Membership has grown since, with Iran (2023) and Belarus (2024).

Quad

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue brings together India, the United States, Japan and Australia. Its roots lie in the four navies' joint relief work after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. An informal dialogue began in 2007, lapsed, and was revived in 2017. Leaders first met virtually in March 2021. It has no secretariat or charter; its agenda covers a free and open Indo-Pacific, health, technology and maritime security.

ASEAN, SAARC and BIMSTEC

• ASEAN: created by the Bangkok Declaration of 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Secretariat in Jakarta. Timor-Leste was admitted as the 11th member in October 2025. India became a full dialogue partner in 1995 and a summit-level partner in 2002; ties were raised to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. India's Look East policy (1991) became Act East in 2014.
• SAARC: founded at the Dhaka summit on 8 December 1985 by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; Afghanistan joined in 2007. Secretariat in Kathmandu (1987). The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement was signed in 2004 and came into force in 2006.
• BIMSTEC: launched by the Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand); Myanmar joined the same year and Nepal and Bhutan in 2004, when the name became Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Permanent secretariat in Dhaka (2014). Its Charter was adopted at the Colombo summit in 2022.