NEW DELHI: India is seeking to position BRICS as a complementary platform for global economic growth while placing the developmental priorities of the Global South, including food and energy security and resilient supply chains, at the centre of the grouping’s two-day summit beginning Saturday.
With preparations for the summit nearing completion, China has confirmed President Xi Jinping’s participation, marking his first visit to India in seven years.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are among the other prominent leaders expected to attend the summit in the national capital.
Top Indian officials said on Thursday that New Delhi’s BRICS chairship was focused on making the grouping an important complementary platform for advancing the priorities of developing countries.
The summit is being held amid mounting global economic pressures arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the West Asia crisis, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and trade and tariff measures of the Trump administration.
Against this backdrop, India is seeking greater cooperation among BRICS members to address vulnerabilities related to food security, energy supplies and global supply chains, officials said.
However, uncertainty remains over whether the members will agree on a joint declaration, with differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the West Asia situation continuing. BRICS decisions are based on consensus.
Originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, BRICS expanded in 2024 with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Indonesia joined the grouping in 2025.
Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam were admitted as partner countries last year.
The grouping now consists of 11 major emerging economies, accounting for nearly half of the world’s population, around 40 per cent of global GDP and about 26 per cent of global trade.
India’s BRICS chairship this year is built around the four pillars of resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability, with a focus on a people-centric approach under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
Officials said the resilience agenda covers cooperation in health, agriculture, food, energy, disaster risk reduction and supply-chain security. Trade, investment, connectivity and advanced technology are also expected to figure prominently during the summit.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, leaders will discuss ways to deepen intra-BRICS cooperation on shared priorities and exchange views on global and regional issues of common interest.
More than 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been organised in over 25 cities during India’s chairship to strengthen cooperation across the grouping’s political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people pillars.
India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026, having previously led the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
The summit will begin at 2:35 pm on Saturday with a closed-door session of BRICS member states on “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism”. Leaders will then visit the Bharat Innovates Exhibition, followed by a family photograph and a joint tree-planting ceremony at Bharat Mandapam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a gala dinner at 7:30 pm.
The second day will begin with the arrival of leaders from BRICS member states, partner countries and outreach invitees from 9:55 am. An official group photograph will be followed by the opening session, “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”, at 10:50 am.
The summit will conclude with the release of the New Delhi Declaration.
BRIC was formalised in 2006 at the UN General Assembly and held its first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. The grouping became BRICS after South Africa was invited to join in 2010, with the country attending its first summit in Sanya, China, in 2011.