BRICS summit opens in New Delhi amid wars, global tensions, tariffs

The annual BRICS summit has convened in New Delhi with leaders and senior officials arriving to discuss an agenda dominated by conflict-driven instability and contentious trade measures. India holds the presidency and is hosting the two-day meeting, which comes as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are affecting energy flows and shipping routes. Tariffs and other trade restrictions imposed by outside powers are also weighing heavily on discussions, and members disagree on how to respond. Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first trip to India in seven years to attend the summit. On the eve of the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in which the two leaders agreed to deepen ties, and with Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, where Modi raised concerns about freedom of navigation and the safety of ship crews. A wide range of other leaders and representatives are present, including Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto; the United Arab Emirates is represented by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Brazil’s president is represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Heads of major international organisations — the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — are also attending. Key items on the summit agenda include expanding non-Western cross-border payment systems and cooperation on artificial intelligence, alongside recurring priorities such as trade, finance, technology, energy security, resilient supply chains and climate change. But the bloc faces sharp divisions: Iran and the UAE are aligned on opposite sides of a conflict described by attendees as involving the United States and Israel, and a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in May failed to produce a joint statement on that conflict. Finance ministers and central bank governors within the bloc have protested tariffs and non-tariff measures they say distort trade and conflict with WTO rules, while the US has imposed tariffs on several members and former President Donald Trump has labelled the bloc "anti-American" and threatened punitive measures. As New Delhi presides over BRICS’ 20th anniversary, Indian and other leaders must balance competing priorities and differing member positions. Observers say the summit will test whether the bloc’s expanded membership can forge practical cooperation and bolster the Global South amid mounting geopolitical and economic pressures.