BRICS bloc opens summit under India's chairmanship

The 18th BRICS Summit formally opened on Saturday (September 12) at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre in New Delhi, bringing together leaders and senior representatives from the expanded 11-member bloc for two days of talks on global governance, trade and security under India's 2026 chairmanship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the opening proceedings, which began with a closed-door session themed "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism."

The session was followed by an exhibition, a joint photograph of the visiting leaders, and a tree-plantation ceremony, with Modi hosting a dinner for the dignitaries in the evening.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the capital ahead of the summit and held bilateral talks with Modi, with the two leaders discussing trade, defence, energy, space cooperation, critical minerals, fertilisers and people-to-people exchanges.

They also exchanged views on regional and global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and concerns over maritime trade safety affecting Indian seafarers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected to arrive later Saturday to join the proceedings.

Other leaders present in New Delhi for the summit include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ugandan Vice-President Jessica Alupo. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and senior officials from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are also attending the expanded gathering.

Alongside the leaders' summit, the BRICS Business Forum has taken up discussions on local-currency trade, cross-border payment systems, investment flows and supply-chain cooperation among member economies. The bloc's stance on the wider West Asia conflict, including the fallout from the recent US-Iran confrontation, is expected to feature prominently in this year's talks.

Authorities have mounted extensive security arrangements across the capital for the two-day event, with heightened deployment around Bharat Mandapam, hotels housing foreign delegations, and key routes used by dignitary convoys.

This year's summit carries the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," a framing officials have linked to Modi's "Humanity First and People-centric" vision for the bloc.

The gathering is being watched closely as a test of BRICS' ability to project a unified voice on international affairs amid deepening rivalries among major global powers.

The summit concludes Sunday.

The summit comes two decades after BRICS emerged as a platform for major emerging economies. But the organization that arrives in New Delhi in 2026 bears little resemblance to the original Brazil-Russia-India-China grouping. South Africa joined in 2010, while Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia subsequently widened the bloc’s geographical and economic reach.

With 11 full members and a broader circle of partner countries, BRICS now spans Asia, Africa, the Gulf, Latin America and Eurasia. Its enlarged footprint has increased its economic and political weight – but has also made consensus considerably harder.

India’s response to that complexity has been to put “Humanity First” at the heart of its presidency, under the overarching theme of “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.