BRICS Summit: Xi Jinping, Putin, Pezeshkian among global leaders attending New Delhi meet – Full list
Global leaders, including the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the President of Iran, began arriving in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit
The grouping originated as the informal "BRIC" alliance of Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2006-09 and has since expanded significantly
BRICS today comprises eleven major emerging-market and developing economies, alongside a separate category of "partner countries" that engage with the grouping without full membership
The summit brings together this expanded membership for the first time under India's chairmanship since the 2024-25 enlargement round
BRICS Membership Expansion (2024-25)
BRICS expanded from its original five members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — the "BRICS5") to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members effective 1 January 2024, following the decision taken at the 2023 Johannesburg Summit. Indonesia subsequently became a full member effective January 2025. This makes BRICS an eleven-member grouping as of the 2026 summit (India's presidency documentation for 2026 treats Saudi Arabia as a full member despite its accession process remaining formally under consideration in some accounts).
Key Details
- Expansion decision: 2023 Johannesburg Summit (15th BRICS Summit, South Africa's chairmanship)
- New members effective from: 1 January 2024 (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE)
- Indonesia: admitted as full member January 2025, after initially being placed in the newly created partner-country category
- Original BRIC grouping's first leaders' summit: Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2009; South Africa added 2010-11
The "full list" of leaders attending New Delhi reflects this enlarged eleven-member roster, alongside partner-country representatives, making 2026 the first India-chaired summit to convene the expanded grouping.
The BRICS Partner Country Category
At the 2024 Kazan Summit (Russia's chairmanship), BRICS members formally adopted the "Modalities of BRICS Partner Country Category" — a tier of engagement for countries interested in closer cooperation without full membership, in part reflecting internal disagreement among existing members over how fast to expand full membership.
Key Details
- Category endorsed at: XVI BRICS Summit, Kazan Declaration, October 2024
- Partner countries effective January 2025 included Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan; Vietnam joined the partner-country category in 2025
- Partner countries participate in select BRICS ministerial and sectoral tracks but do not have full summit voting/consensus status
- Indonesia moved from the partner-country track to full membership within about a year, illustrating the category can serve as a stepping stone
Descriptions of "ten partner countries" alongside eleven full members at the 2026 summit reflect this two-tier structure created in 2024.
Iran's BRICS Membership and Diplomatic Representation
Iran became a full BRICS member on 1 January 2024, as part of the first expansion round. Iran's participation at the leaders' level connects to its broader diplomatic re-engagement strategy amid Western sanctions, using multilateral platforms such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO, of which Iran is also a full member since 2023) to diversify economic and diplomatic partnerships.
Key Details
- Iran joined BRICS: 1 January 2024 (announced at 2023 Johannesburg Summit)
- Iran is also a full SCO member since July 2023 — useful for distinguishing overlapping but distinct India-linked multilateral groupings (BRICS vs SCO vs G20)
- India maintains SCO and BRICS engagement with Iran independent of bilateral sanctions-related friction points, illustrating India's "multi-alignment" foreign policy approach
Iran's head-of-state-level presence in New Delhi is a direct function of its 2024 accession to full BRICS membership, distinguishing it from partner-country delegations attending at a lower level.
- BRICS informal grouping conceived: acronym "BRIC" coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, November 2001; grouping itself formed as BRIC around 2006-09
- First BRIC leaders' summit: 2009, Yekaterinburg, Russia
- South Africa added: 2010 (invited), first summit attendance 2011, Sanya, China
- 2024 expansion (effective 1 Jan 2024): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- 2025 expansion: Indonesia becomes full member
- Current full members: 11 (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Indonesia)
- Partner-country category created: Kazan Declaration, October 2024
- Iran additionally a full SCO member since July 2023