BRICS needs a Traditional Knowledge Alliance, not just de-dollarisation: Why it matters

BRICS’ push for a more multipolar global order cannot stop at reducing dependence on dominant currencies, according to Sidhharrth S Kumaar, Chief Researcher, Indic Knowledge Policy Think Tank, NumroVani. He argues that the grouping must also address knowledge sovereignty, particularly as artificial intelligence and digital platforms increasingly shape how knowledge is preserved and used.

“The global contest for sovereignty is no longer only limited to territory, trade or currency. It now extends to data, artificial intelligence and the power to shape narratives,” Kumaar told Business Today. “As countries race to build sovereign AI systems, a crucial question arises: whose knowledge will train them, and whose worldview will they reproduce?”

Why knowledge sovereignty matters

BRICS countries are custodians of some of the world’s oldest traditional and indigenous knowledge systems. However, Kumaar said much of this knowledge remains absent from dominant digital datasets, inadequately translated or interpreted through frameworks developed elsewhere.

“This matters for BRICS. Its members are not only emerging economies but also inheritors of some of humanity’s oldest knowledge traditions,” he said. “Amid intensifying competition over information and global narratives, knowledge sovereignty has become a strategic necessity.”

While BRICS has focused on financial sovereignty and alternatives to excessive dependence on dominant currencies, Kumaar argues that the agenda needs to expand.

“But a multipolar financial order built upon a largely unipolar knowledge architecture will remain incomplete,” he said.

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New Delhi Declaration opens the door

The New Delhi Declaration has already recognised traditional and indigenous knowledge within BRICS cooperation. It welcomes India’s initiative to circulate guiding principles for academic collaboration and encourages the BRICS Network University to consider traditional, indigenous and local knowledge systems as an additional International Thematic Group.

The declaration also backs a proposed BRICS Expert Working Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, covering areas such as medicinal plants, herbal preparations, evidence-based approaches and regulation.

Kumaar’s proposal is to bring these initiatives together under a Traditional Knowledge Alliance.

“These are significant steps, but they remain distributed across separate mechanisms. BRICS must connect them through a Traditional Knowledge Alliance,” he said.

From heritage to economic opportunity

The proposed alliance could support research spanning documentation, translation, scientific testing and responsible contemporary application. It could initially focus on preventive healthcare, mental well-being, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, climate resilience and human behaviour.

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There is also a significant economic opportunity. The global wellness economy was around $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to approach $9.8 trillion by 2029.

“BRICS countries should not remain suppliers of knowledge later repackaged and commercialised elsewhere,” Kumaar said.

For the alliance to be credible, however, traditional claims would need rigorous evaluation, alongside protections for intellectual property and community ownership. “Attribution, intellectual property, community ownership, benefit-sharing and protection against biopiracy must remain core, particularly when this knowledge enters AI datasets,” Kumaar said.

Ultimately, the proposal reframes BRICS’ sovereignty agenda: de-dollarisation could reduce dependence on a dominant currency, while knowledge cooperation could help prevent the emerging digital economy from being shaped by a single worldview.