The BRICS grouping has attained a coveted position in Indian foreign policy. Since its inception, India has maintained a formidable position in its formal arrival and successful growth. India hosting the 18th annual summit of the grouping in New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam marks the completion of a whole cycle of 10 years. India hosted a summit in 2016 and has completed a cycle of 20 years since the first BRICS Ministerial meeting, which was held in 2006. The grouping has come a long way from a mere 16-point declaration signed at the first summit held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009 to a 126-point declaration at the last summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 2025. The group posits exclusive strategic and multilateral significance to all its member countries.
18th Summit, New Delhi, 2026
The theme of the current summit, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’’ signifies India’s interests in establishing an inclusive global order. The grouping has been pushing for reforms in the multilateral institutions, consensus on common positions on global governance and deeper bilateral cooperation. So far, India has hosted four annual summits designed based on the priorities and challenges of that period. In 2012, India played a key role in proposing the New Development Bank or the BRICS Bank, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), and proposed an agreement on extending credit facilities in local currency. In the summit held in 2016, India emphasised forums on clean energy, agriculture, railway network, and sports and was a pioneer in incorporating regional presence by inviting the BIMSTEC sub-regional grouping as the outreach partner. In 2021, the summit hosted by India initiated discussions on a digital health summit, remote sensing satellites, research and development in vaccines, and green tourism. The current 2026 summit poses different-level opportunities and challenges for India to address.
Challenges for Cooperation
While stressing regular cooperation across several ministerial tracks, the summit must also navigate current geopolitical transitions, economic fragmentation, and technological disruptions. With the growing membership from countries covering Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, the grouping has become more diverse and needs to accommodate the concerns of all the member states. Along with the expansion of the grouping from five to eleven, it has also further evolved into new associations by creating a group of 10 new partners that forms an additional channel for structured engagement with BRICS, broadening its outreach and further deepening the collaboration among all the members and partners.
While accepting the BRICS Presidency in Rio de Janeiro in 2025, Prime Minister Modi had claimed that India’s Presidency “will give a new form to the grouping and highlighted a people-centric approach.’’ Bringing BRICS closer to the larger Global South has been its primary objective and aspiration. Moreover, the inclusive format pushed by India strongly reflects members' regional needs, especially by representing countries from Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. India has highlighted the collective global effort to address shared contemporary challenges affecting these regions the most. While positioning itself as the Global South custodian, India also has a greater responsibility to maintain relations with Western countries and reemphasise its identity as a non-Western, not anti-Western, grouping. Thus, while demanding a greater voice and space for emerging economies, it must also build Resilience in supply chains, health, Innovation in Digital Public Infrastructure, AI, fintech, Cooperation in reformed multilateralism, and Sustainability in green finance and the energy transition. India also has to manage the group members within and the image of BRICS outside and act as a bridging force for both. There are challenges ahead for India to come to a joint consensus on the declaration, where there are members Iran and UAE with opposing outlooks. India also faces challenges in responding to the war and highlighting concerns about trade tariffs and sanctions, which are immediate priorities. Managing critical divergences among Iran and the UAE, Egypt and Ethiopia, and regional tensions poses a tricky challenge for India to handle. India and China also need to focus on their regular competitive cooperation within and outside the grouping. The current summit also presents larger tests for India: first, to build a bridge between Global South and Global North countries. Secondly, to represent the grouping as a supplementary platform for encouraging South-South solidarity. Lastly, the grouping should reflect its expansion in its pure form, acting more complementarily with its growing appeal and prominence to the BRICS identity, rather than creating a paradoxical outlook as members adopt divergent views that further complicate consensus-building. Thus, there are greater opportunities and responsibilities for India to make the BRICS grouping and the 18th summit a more constructive and solution-oriented forum.
The author, a specialist on BRICS, teaches Political Science at D. D. Kosambi School of Social Sciences and Behavioural Studies, Goa University. Views expressed are personal.
