BRICS Summit 2026: New Delhi Declaration Adopted as Leaders Gather for Gala Dinner
Day one of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi ended with a gala dinner after negotiators secured consensus on the New Delhi Declaration.
The 18th BRICS Summit opened in New Delhi on Saturday, with negotiators working until the final hours to bridge differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates and secure agreement on the New Delhi Declaration.
The declaration avoided direct references to the United States strikes on Iran or Iranian military attacks on several Gulf Arab states, instead urging "maximum restraint" in the conflict. It also made no separate mention of the war in Ukraine.
With the diplomatic groundwork complete by early evening, leaders returned to a decorated Bharat Mandapam for a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the dinner, for reasons that were not immediately known. He had arrived in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon, took part in the summit and held what was described as a productive bilateral meeting with Modi. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, also missed the banquet, having departed for home after attending the day's proceedings. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in the capital as a late addition shortly after the Crown Prince's departure.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim brought a cultural flourish to the evening, spontaneously performing the Kishore Kumar song "Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat" from the 1965 film Teen Devian during his stay at a Delhi hotel. The track, composed by S.D. Burman with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri, reflected his long-standing fondness for Hindi cinema.
The dinner menu featured Indian specialities including paneer lababdar, gucchi marmik, millet pulao and shahtoot phirni for dessert, alongside starters such as khandvi mille and khumb galouti. Other dishes included thakkali belle saaru, a light toor dal broth with tomatoes and curry leaves, beetroot raita and assorted Indian breads.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of several states attended. Ministers including Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju travelled together from the Parliament House complex in two buses under tight security. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath, Devendra Fadnavis, Suvendu Adhikari, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pushkar Singh Dhami also made the journey. Ministers were seated at different tables alongside delegates from various countries.
A cultural programme titled "Navarasa – The Universe of Shared Emotions" was presented ahead of the dinner, featuring the BRICS Symphony, "One Rhythm, Many Cultures", which brought together musicians from member and partner countries.
At the summit venue, artists from BRICS nations created a large-scale mural titled "Sangam: Confluence of Cultures", inspired by the Indian idea of rivers meeting. The work, part of the BRICS Friendship Mural project, is displayed inside the main Bharat Mandapam building.
The Department of Posts released two commemorative postage stamps marking two decades of BRICS, bearing the inscription "BRICS: Two Decades of Cooperation, 2006-2026" in English and Hindi. BRIC was formalised at the first meeting of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006, and was renamed BRICS after South Africa joined.