The 18th BRICS Summit officially began in New Delhi on Saturday, September 12, with leaders of the expanded grouping meeting at Bharat Mandapam as India hosts the bloc's annual summit for the first time since its expansion. According to Business Standard, the two-day summit, themed 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', brings together Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali among other leaders. India assumed the BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026, marking its fourth time hosting the grouping, with the summit now expanded to include 11 full members alongside partner countries. The summit will bring together 11 major emerging and developing economies — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE, as reported by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is conducting an extensive series of bilateral meetings throughout Day 1, beginning at 10 a.m. at Hyderabad House with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. As reported by Business Standard, Modi will then meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at 10:30 a.m. and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at 11 a.m.. The schedule includes a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung at 11:30 a.m., followed by a significant engagement with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping at 5:45 p.m. at Bharat Mandapam. Modi is also scheduled to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11:30 a.m., with the day concluding with a dinner hosted by PM Modi for participating leaders at 7:30 p.m. The bilateral meetings are expected to provide an opportunity to discuss key areas of cooperation and exchange views on regional and global developments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi early Friday for the 18th BRICS Summit, with Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh receiving him at the airport. As reported by ANI, Putin's visit marks his first in-person appearance at a BRICS summit hosted by India, following a series of high-level exchanges between New Delhi and Moscow through 2026 covering trade, defence and energy cooperation. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared images of the reception on X, noting that 'India and Russia share multifaceted and longstanding ties anchored in Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership'. The Kremlin confirmed that Putin will hold several other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit during his time in New Delhi.
The main BRICS programme commenced at 2 p.m. at Bharat Mandapam with a closed-door meeting of BRICS member countries on 'Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism'. According to Business Standard, leaders are expected to discuss key issues including global governance, multilateralism, trade and investment, technology, food and energy security, healthcare, disaster resilience and critical supply chains. The discussions are also expected to focus on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation on shared priorities and exchanging views on global and regional issues of mutual interest. The leaders will then visit the 'Bharat Innovates' exhibition, showcasing India's innovation and technology capabilities, followed by a group photograph of the leaders and a joint tree-planting ceremony at Bharat Mandapam. The summit is being held against the backdrop of conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region, an energy crisis and climate change, as reported by NDTV Profit.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the bilateral meeting represents an opportunity for the two countries to discuss issues of bilateral relations in an open and constructive way, with the leaders maintaining very close personal contact and being very pragmatic in their relationship. Peskov emphasized that this approach opens additional horizons for cooperation, noting that the leaders are sincere enough to discuss the most sensitive issues of their agenda. The meeting is expected to provide an opportunity for the two sides to take forward discussions on defense and economic ties, building on their recent meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek. Peskov also highlighted that trade and economic cooperation is a very wide scope for the upcoming discussions.
The summit is taking place against the backdrop of the US-Iran war and continuing tensions in West Asia, presenting India with a difficult diplomatic balancing act. As reported by Business Standard, the expanded BRICS includes Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, whose interests and positions on the regional conflict do not always align. India, meanwhile, maintains significant strategic and economic ties with the US as well as West Asian nations. This complex geopolitical landscape adds significance to India's role as BRICS chair, as the grouping continues to expand its role in global economic and diplomatic affairs while managing diverse regional interests and tensions. The summit has emerged as a key platform for coordinating economic policy and cooperation among major emerging economies, with leaders expected to focus on strengthening cooperation, resilience and sustainable development across BRICS economies.
