18th BRICS Summit 2026: New Delhi Declaration — India's Chairmanship, UN Reform, and Global South Agenda

Why in News

India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12–13, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, under India's Chairmanship of BRICS for 2026. Heads of state and government from all eleven BRICS member nations attended. The summit concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, a comprehensive 140-point document articulating the bloc's collective positions on global governance reform, multilateral trade, artificial intelligence (AI), health, energy, and geopolitical conflicts including the situation in West Asia.

Background

BRICS (originally BRIC) is an intergovernmental grouping of major emerging-market economies. The acronym was coined by economist Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs in 2001; the first formal BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, completing the original five-nation bloc. The grouping expanded significantly at the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg (2023), admitting six new members effective January 1, 2024: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Argentina (Argentina subsequently withdrew). A second wave of partner-country accessions occurred ahead of the 2026 summit.

• 2009: First BRIC Summit, Yekaterinburg, Russia
• 2010: South Africa invited; grouping renamed BRICS
• 2016: India hosts 8th BRICS Summit, Goa — GOA Declaration
• 2021: India hosts BRICS under chairmanship — New Delhi hosted a virtual summit
• 2023: 15th Summit, Johannesburg — historic expansion to 11 members
• 2024: Russia's BRICS Chairmanship; Kazan Summit
• 2025: Brazil's BRICS Chairmanship; Rio de Janeiro Summit
• 2026: India's BRICS Chairmanship; New Delhi Summit (18th edition)

Current Developments

The 18th BRICS Summit under India's Chairmanship focused on the overarching theme of multilateralism, reform of global institutions, and the centrality of the Global South in international decision-making. Key outcomes include:

• Adoption of the New Delhi Declaration — 140 agreed points covering UN reform, WTO dispute resolution, IMF/World Bank governance, AI regulation, climate finance, food security, health systems, and energy transition.
• India and Brazil received explicit language in the declaration supporting their quest for a greater role in the United Nations system, including reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
• Prime Minister Modi held bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping, with both sides agreeing to respect "mutual sensitivity toward core concerns" — diplomatic language covering the border situation and trade imbalances.
• The declaration called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and affirmed support for full UN membership for Palestine, reflecting the bloc's collective position on West Asian geopolitics.
• Leaders endorsed a BRICS framework for AI governance and digital public infrastructure, emphasising that AI standards should reflect developing-country contexts.
• A new BRICS Clean Energy Research Network was announced to facilitate technology transfer for clean energy transition among member states.

Key Facts

Constitutional Provisions

India's participation in multilateral groupings like BRICS is guided by constitutional principles embedded in the Preamble (promoting international peace and security) and in the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs):

• Article 51 (DPSP): Directs the State to promote international peace and security, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, foster respect for international law and treaty obligations, and encourage settlement of disputes by arbitration.
• Article 73: The executive power of the Union extends to all matters with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws and to the exercise of treaty-making power — the basis for India's engagement in multilateral forums.
• Article 253: Parliament has the power to make any law for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or any decision made at any international conference — the legal basis for giving domestic effect to BRICS commitments.

Legal Framework

BRICS is not a treaty-based organisation with a founding charter like the United Nations or the WTO. It operates through Leaders' Declarations, Ministerial Communiqués, Action Plans, and cooperative frameworks adopted at annual summits. Key legal/institutional instruments:

• Fortaleza Declaration (2014): Established the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).
• New Development Bank (NDB) Articles of Agreement: The multilateral development bank headquartered in Shanghai; India is a founding member. NDB's AAA credit rating enables low-cost infrastructure financing for member and partner countries.
• Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA): A framework for providing liquidity support in case of balance-of-payments pressure; total committed resources: USD 100 billion.
• Johannesburg II Declaration (2023): Established the expanded BRICS membership framework and principles for Partner Country status.

Institutional Framework

• BRICS Leaders' Summit: Annual; sets the political agenda and adopts declarations. Chaired by the country holding the annual chairmanship.
• BRICS Sherpa/Sous-Sherpa Track: Prepares the Leaders' Summit through working groups on finance, trade, health, environment, culture, etc.
• New Development Bank (NDB): Multilateral development bank; HQ in Shanghai; India's current NDB President is [subject to official update]. NDB has approved over USD 30 billion in projects as of 2025.
• Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA): Financial safety net; USD 100 billion committed pool.
• BRICS Business Council: Private-sector interface; promotes trade and investment among member states.
• BRICS Parliamentary Forum: Legislative inter-connectivity platform.
• India's BRICS 2026 Theme: Centred on sustainable development, multilateralism, and digital inclusion.

Economic Dimensions

BRICS economies collectively account for approximately 35–37% of global GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) and over 45% of the world's population — making the grouping's economic decisions consequential for global markets.

Key economic outcomes of the 2026 Summit include:

• Agreement to expand the use of local currencies in intra-BRICS trade and investments, reducing dependence on the US dollar-dominated SWIFT system — though a common BRICS currency was not endorsed.
• A call for reform of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism — India advocated for restoring the functioning of the WTO Appellate Body, paralysed since December 2019 due to US blocking of appointments.
• Endorsement of equitable IMF/World Bank quota reforms to increase voting shares for developing nations, particularly Africa and the Global South.
• BRICS leaders endorsed the NDB's expanded membership and its role in financing sustainable infrastructure, green energy, and digital public goods in member and partner countries.

Banking & Financial Angle: The BRICS push for local-currency trade settlement and NDB's expansion has direct implications for India's financial sector. Banks like State Bank of India (SBI) and Exim Bank are key facilitators of India's trade financing with BRICS partners. SEBI and RBI have been working on enabling rupee-denominated trade invoicing under the framework endorsed at the Kazan Summit (2024) and affirmed at New Delhi.

Environmental Dimensions

• The New Delhi Declaration endorsed the BRICS Clean Energy Research Network for technology transfer in solar, hydrogen, and battery storage.
• Leaders reaffirmed support for the Paris Agreement and the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), noting that developed nations must fulfil their climate finance commitments.
• India's position at BRICS aligned with its domestic goals under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets — 500 GW non-fossil capacity and 50% share of non-fossil sources by 2030.
• A BRICS Working Group on Climate and Sustainable Development was tasked with developing a common position ahead of COP31.

International Relations

The BRICS Summit is a premier platform for India to advance its foreign policy doctrine — the 2026 summit reinforced several key pillars:

• UN Security Council Reform: India's candidacy for a permanent UNSC seat received explicit support in the New Delhi Declaration. The G4 (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan) positions align with BRICS' call for making the UNSC "more representative, effective and efficient."
• India-China Relations: The Modi-Xi bilateral was closely watched; both sides signalled a thaw after the border disengagement process. The phrase "mutual sensitivity toward core concerns" is diplomatic code for respecting each other's positions on Taiwan (China) and the LAC boundary (India).
• West Asia: India's support for a Gaza ceasefire and Palestinian statehood aligns with its long-standing policy of supporting a "two-state solution" while maintaining strategic ties with Israel.
• BRICS expansion and Multi-alignment: India's ability to engage both Western (G7) and non-Western (BRICS) groupings simultaneously reflects its "multi-alignment" doctrine — maintaining strategic autonomy and refusing to be part of any bloc's adversarial posture.
• Global South leadership: India leveraged its BRICS Chairmanship to build on the consensus it achieved at the G20 Presidency (2023, New Delhi) — consolidating its position as the leading voice of the developing world.

Challenges

• Internal divergences: BRICS members have conflicting interests — India-China border tensions, Russia's war in Ukraine (which divides BRICS on Russia sanctions), Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry, and divergent positions on the dollar's global role.
• Dollar alternative: Any move toward a BRICS currency or settlement system faces structural hurdles — members' economies are deeply integrated into dollar-denominated global finance; a workable alternative requires trust, liquidity, and convertibility that only emerge over decades.
• Institutional capacity: With 11 members (and expanding partner status), building consensus is harder; the NDB's project approvals have grown but its scale remains small relative to the World Bank.
• Credibility gap: BRICS declarations are non-binding. Implementation of agreed positions depends on domestic political will in each member state.
• Western scepticism: G7 and NATO countries have characterised expanded BRICS as an attempt to build an anti-Western bloc — though India, Saudi Arabia, and UAE have rejected this framing.

Government Initiatives

• BRICS Chairmanship 2026: India organised over 150 BRICS meetings across sectors (energy, health, finance, agriculture, culture, S&T, space) throughout 2026 before the Leaders' Summit.
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Export: India championed the spread of its DPI stack (UPI, Aadhaar, DigiLocker, CoWIN) to BRICS partners as a model for financial inclusion and governance digitisation.
• Vaccine Maitri 2.0: India proposed a BRICS Health Resilience Framework, building on its COVID-era vaccine diplomacy.
• BRICS Startup Forum: India hosted a BRICS Startup Forum in Bangalore in August 2026, creating a platform for cross-border startup investment and technology collaboration.

Way Forward

The 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) and the Economic Survey have consistently emphasised that India's multilateral engagement must be anchored in concrete economic outcomes and domestic policy coherence. For BRICS, the actionable next steps include:

• Operationalising the BRICS Clean Energy Research Network with clear technology-transfer protocols and IP-sharing agreements.
• Pushing for NDB bond issuance in rupees — enabling Indian infrastructure projects to be financed in local currency, reducing sovereign FX risk.
• India's NITI Aayog has recommended that BRICS DPI commitments be tied to measurable Financial Inclusion Index benchmarks, ensuring that digital diplomacy translates into access on the ground.
• India should use the BRICS platform to advance its candidacy in the reformed UNSC alongside Brazil in the G4 framework, ensuring that the New Delhi Declaration's language on UN reform is reflected in concrete UN General Assembly resolutions.
• Strengthening the BRICS Business Council to facilitate actual trade flows in local currencies, beginning with bilateral tracks (India-Russia, India-UAE, India-China) before moving to multilateral settlement.

Possible Mains Questions

1. "The New Delhi Declaration of the 18th BRICS Summit marks a qualitative shift in India's multilateral diplomacy." Critically analyse this claim with reference to India's three reform pillars — Representation, Responsiveness, and Rule-making. (GS-II, 15 marks)
2. Evaluate the prospects and limitations of BRICS as a counter-weight to Western-led international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. What role can India play in making BRICS more consequential? (GS-II, 15 marks)

Possible Prelims MCQs

1. Q: Which of the following is/are correct about the New Development Bank (NDB)?
   1. NDB was established by the Fortaleza Declaration in 2014.
   2. Its headquarters is in New Delhi.
   3. India is a founding member of the NDB.
   Select the correct answer: (A) 1 only (B) 1 and 3 only (C) 2 and 3 only (D) 1, 2, and 3
   Answer: (B) — NDB HQ is in Shanghai, not New Delhi.
2. Q: The Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) established by BRICS has a committed resource pool of:
   (A) USD 50 billion (B) USD 100 billion (C) USD 200 billion (D) USD 500 billion
   Answer: (B)
3. Q: Article 51 of the Indian Constitution, which directs the State to promote international peace and security, belongs to:
   (A) Fundamental Rights (B) Directive Principles of State Policy (C) Fundamental Duties (D) Union Legislature
   Answer: (B)
4. Q: BRICS expanded from 5 to 11 members effective January 1, 2024, following which Summit?
   (A) 14th BRICS Summit, Beijing (B) 15th BRICS Summit, Johannesburg (C) 16th BRICS Summit, Kazan (D) 17th BRICS Summit, Rio de Janeiro
   Answer: (B)
5. Q: India's 2026 BRICS Chairmanship reform framework rests on three pillars. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
   (A) Representation (B) Responsiveness (C) Resilience (D) Rule-making
   Answer: (C) — The three pillars are Representation, Responsiveness, and Rule-making.

Essay Dimensions

1. From Bandung to BRICS: Tracing India's journey as a voice of the Global South across seven decades of non-alignment and multi-alignment.
2. Can the Global South reshape the Bretton Woods order? The limits of solidarity-based multilateralism.
3. BRICS: Strategic hedge or ideological alternative? Examining the bloc's identity crisis post-expansion.
4. Digital diplomacy and DPI export: India's soft power in the 21st-century multilateral architecture.
5. The UN Security Council reform debate: Why the permanent-five veto remains the hardest wall to scale.

Interview Questions

1. India hosted both the G20 Presidency (2023) and the BRICS Chairmanship (2026). How have these two platforms advanced India's foreign policy interests differently?
2. BRICS includes both India and China, who have unresolved border disputes. How does India manage its interests within the bloc while maintaining its strategic autonomy?
3. The New Delhi Declaration explicitly supports India's bid for a reformed UNSC seat. What structural reforms to the UNSC does India advocate for, and what are the obstacles?
4. Is BRICS an anti-Western bloc or a reformist force within the existing international order? Justify your answer.
5. What is the significance of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) for emerging economies, and how does it differ from IMF assistance?

FAQ

What is BRICS and how many members does it have?

BRICS is an intergovernmental grouping of major emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (original five) — expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, bringing the total to 11 members. It was formally launched in 2009 and has since grown into a significant multilateral platform representing about 45% of the world's population.

What is the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit?

The New Delhi Declaration is a 140-point agreed document adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit (September 12–13, 2026, Bharat Mandapam). It covers UN Security Council reform, WTO dispute resolution, equitable IMF/World Bank governance, AI regulation, climate finance, energy transition, food security, health systems, and the situations in West Asia and Ukraine.

What is India's position on a BRICS common currency?

India has not endorsed a common BRICS currency. India's position — consistent with RBI guidance — is that local-currency trade settlement (such as rupee-rouble or rupee-dirham trade) is practical and beneficial, but a single BRICS currency is premature given vastly different inflation rates, exchange-rate regimes, and economic structures among member states.

What is the New Development Bank (NDB)?

The New Development Bank (NDB) is a multilateral development bank established by BRICS nations via the Fortaleza Declaration (2014) and headquartered in Shanghai, China. It finances sustainable infrastructure, clean energy, and social development projects in member and partner countries. India is a founding member with an equal capital share. The NDB has approved over USD 30 billion in projects as of 2025.

Further Reading

• Ministry of External Affairs — BRICS 2026 Chairmanship page: mea.gov.in
• New Development Bank official website: ndb.int
• India's NDC and climate commitments: moef.gov.in
• Economic Survey 2025–26, Chapter on Multilateral Engagement (Ministry of Finance)