By: Amisha Mohan

The 18^th BRICS Summit to be hosted by India in New Delhi on September 12-13 serves as a litmus test for contemporary multilateralism. Bringing together 11 full member states- including recent additions- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia- alongside an expanding array of partner nations, the summit solidifies BRICS as the definitive powerhouse of the Global South.

The BRICS Summit takes place against the backdrop of shifting trade regimes, West Asian security crises, Trump administration’s trade and tariff policies and growing structural divergence within the bloc. As PM Modi prepares to welcome fellow heads of state, New Delhi faces a serious test of transforming the organization from a forum of declarations to a more representative global order.

Why BRICS 2026 is historic?

• This year marks exactly two decades since the establishment of the original BRIC framework in 2006. India is the BRICS Chair for the 2026 edition, which it formally assumed on 1^st January, 2026, succeeding Brazil.

• The BRICS chair is guided by the theme: ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.’ According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the theme reflects PM Modi’s vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of ‘Humanity First.’ Under India’s chairmanship this year, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have already been held in over 25 cities across India to further strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars- political and security, economic and financial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

• The New Delhi Summit is also significant as it is the first BRICS leaders’ summit hosted by India since the grouping’s expansion to 11 members.

Walking a diplomatic tightrope: What India seeks to achieve through its BRICS chairship?

Positive agendas

• India’s broad objective is to make the forum more development oriented.

• India is also pushing for greater quota reforms at the IMF and an expansion of the New Development Bank’s capital base.

• Laying stress on creating a more integrated innovation system, India has additionally proposed a BRICS Startup Innovation Fund to catalyze financing for early and growth-stage startups.

• In economic governance and trade, the alliance has advanced the strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030 while reaffirming support for a robust multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. To fortify trade corridors, member states have adopted the BRICS Global Value Chains Action Plan 2026-2030, alongside guiding principles designed to assess export-oriented MSMEs.

• Energy security remains a key focus given the alliance’s combination of major energy producers, consumers and industrializing economies. Following the BRICS Energy Ministers’ meeting in Gurugram, member nations adopted guiding principles on smart grids and launched the BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage to foster pilot projects.

• India is also advocating for accelerated collective efforts towards climate action, green finance, energy transitions and sustainable development, aligned with national and global priorities.

The Shadow of Challenges

As New Delhi hosts 2026 BRICS Summit, it needs to navigate geopolitical tensions with major world powers while focusing on broader economic and multilateral outcomes.

• Managing internal geopolitical rivalry with China: China’s level of engagement will be particularly important given the increasingly competitive India-China relationship. Persistent border disagreements and conflicting regional priorities have adversely affected bilateral ties. Amid this, the future trajectory of India-China relations will be closely watched for signs of border stabilisation and trade normalisation.

• Russia dynamics: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov highlighted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India for the BRICS Summit later this week will provide an opportunity for the two countries to discuss bilateral relations. However, amid diplomatic sensitivities and Western sanctions, New Delhi will try to carefully navigate future dimensions with Russia.

• The political consensus on West Asia will be under intense scrutiny. This becomes more significant for India as West Asia is central to its energy security, trade and diaspora interests. Any prolonged disruption in the region can adversely affect India.

For India, the challenge would be to gather regional agreement on important issues, with the need to strike a balancing act because the expanded BRICS includes both Iran and the UAE, which have opposing interests in the Middle East.

This is the third summit to be hosted by the Narendra Modi government, following the editions in 2016 and 2021. Under its chair, New Delhi hopes to emerge with a stronger voice for Global South and advocate for a more practical, inclusive and development-oriented forum. The chair sets forth a vision for a peaceful, multipolar world order grounded in strategic autonomy and economic resilience.