BRICS meets in India: What’s on the agenda, why it matters

India is hosting the 18th annual BRICS summit in New Delhi, where leaders from more than a dozen countries are meeting across two days beginning September 12. The city has been styled with BRICS signage and enhanced security, with roughly 30,000 extra personnel deployed and traffic restrictions around visiting dignitaries’ hotels.

Key leaders in attendance include India’s Narendra Modi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, who returned to India after a seven-year absence; Brazil’s president is not attending and is represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Newer and invited members are represented at ministerial or presidential level — for example Iran by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Egypt by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopia by Abiy Ahmed, and Indonesia by Prabowo Subianto — while Saudi Arabia and the UAE are sending their foreign minister and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, respectively. Heads of major international organisations such as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are also present.

Under India’s BRICS presidency the stated theme is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.” Delegates are expected to concentrate on strengthening member economies through expanded trade, energy cooperation and technology-sharing, including discussions on artificial intelligence. With some members under Western sanctions, leaders will explore cross-border payment mechanisms and measures to de-risk and secure supply chains; the Kremlin has said Russia will hold talks on settling trade in digital currencies during the summit.

The gathering unfolds against a backdrop of intense geopolitical strain — the US and Israel’s war on Iran, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and instability in global energy markets — and BRICS faces internal divisions over these conflicts and regional disputes such as clashes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-aligned Houthis and border tensions between India and China. How effectively the group can bridge these differences while advancing its stated aim of challenging Western-dominated economic institutions will be a central test of this year’s summit.