BRICS New Delhi Declaration Backs AI Cooperation, Smart Manufacturing Working Groups

The declaration folds AI and smart manufacturing into BRICS' existing industrial working-group architecture, which matters less as a technology statement than as a governance signal: standards cooperation and talent training are the levers that shape which vendors and systems Global South markets adopt. The explicit nod to the World AI Conference in Shanghai suggests alignment around a China-anchored convening track rather than Western-led fora, a shift worth watching for procurement and interoperability patterns. Whether the working groups convert declarations into shared standards or remain talking shops is the open question.