India Hosts 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi as Chair for 2026

India is hosting the 18th BRICS heads-of-state and government summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, 2026, having assumed the chair of the grouping on January 1. This is the fourth time India has led BRICS, after 2012, 2016 and 2021.

The summit brings together leaders from an expanded bloc. BRICS originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and grew to 11 members with the addition of Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Ethiopia in 2024, followed by Indonesia in 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are among those travelling to Delhi. China has confirmed that President Xi Jinping will attend, marking his first visit to India in nearly seven years.

Several countries will be represented at other levels. The UAE will send Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, while Brazil will be represented by Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira. South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are also expected.

Other participants include Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo, Nigerian Vice President Sen. Kashim Shettima, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Uruguay's Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lubetkin and Belarus's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov will attend, along with Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla is also on the list.

Institutional representatives include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff.

The theme for India's presidency is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability', which the government says reflects a humanity-first approach articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2025 Rio summit. The presidency documents list inclusive growth, shared responsibility, practical cooperation and a people-centric approach as core values.

India's agenda includes strengthening supply chains, trade cooperation, cross-border payments, technology and artificial intelligence, energy, development finance and reform of global governance. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar outlined these priorities at the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting. Cooperation in agriculture, innovation and health is also expected to feature, alongside discussions on clean energy and sustainable growth. Cross-border payments are likely to draw particular attention, with India advocating greater use of national currencies in trade.

As chair, India is responsible for facilitating discussions and coordinating negotiations among members. The summit comes amid geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including those involving Iran and Ukraine. India's role in BRICS also intersects with its membership of the Quad and the G20, and its conduct during the summit is expected to be watched closely by members and the wider international community, including the United States. Discussions on expanding the use of national currencies may be received positively within BRICS but could be viewed warily by Washington, given its economic sanctions on countries such as Iran and Russia.