18th BRICS Summit 2026: Who are the world leaders attending in New Delhi, India’s role, and more
World leaders converged in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit, held on 12-13 September 2026 at Bharat Mandapam.
India assumed the BRICS chairship for 2026 — its fourth time chairing the grouping — under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."
Heads of state and government, along with senior officials, from the now-expanded bloc and partner countries attended, with the agenda covering supply chains, trade, cross-border payments, technology, energy security, and reform of global governance institutions.
The summit follows India's earlier chairships in 2012, 2016, and 2021.
India's BRICS Chairship History and the Grouping's Evolution
BRICS originated as "BRIC," a term coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill; the grouping held its first leaders' summit in 2009, and South Africa joined in 2010 to make it "BRICS."
Key Details
- 1st BRIC Summit: Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2009.
- India's chairships: 2012 (4th summit, New Delhi — proposed a South-financed multilateral development bank, laying groundwork for the New Development Bank); 2016 (8th summit, Goa, themed "Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions," which broadened the bloc's focus to counter-terrorism and connectivity); 2021 (13th summit, held virtually amid COVID-19 and the LAC standoff, themed "BRICS@15: Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus"); and 2026 (18th summit, New Delhi).
- The chairship rotates annually among member states, loosely following the founding acronym sequence.
India's 2026 chairship is its fourth, meaning it has hosted more BRICS summits than any founding member besides Russia — a directly testable fact distinguishing India's role from that of other founding members.
Global Governance Reform and the UNSC Expansion Question
"Global governance reform," a standing item on BRICS agendas, is closely tied to the long-pending push to reform the UN Security Council (UNSC), on which BRICS members themselves hold divergent positions.
Key Details
- The G4 nations — India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan — mutually support each other's bids for permanent UNSC membership; two of the four (India and Brazil) are also BRICS founding members, while Russia and China are already permanent (P5) members.
- The UN's Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process on Security Council reform has been ongoing since 2008 without a consensus outcome text.
- The Ezulwini Consensus (2005) is the African Union's common position, seeking at least two permanent seats with veto power for Africa — a competing reform proposal alongside the G4's.
The summit's "global governance reform" agenda item sits atop this unresolved UNSC debate, where BRICS is internally split between members that already hold permanent seats (Russia, China) and members that are aspirants (India, Brazil).
Cross-Border Payments and the BRICS Bridge Proposal
Discussions on cross-border payments at BRICS summits build on a payments initiative first floated at the 2024 Kazan Summit, distinct from any proposal for a common BRICS currency.
Key Details
- The "BRICS Bridge/BRICS Pay" concept, discussed at the Kazan Summit (Russia, October 2024), envisages an interoperable payment-messaging platform among member central banks rather than a single currency.
- India operates its own domestic and cross-border payment infrastructure — the Unified Payments Interface (UPI, launched 2016) and the RBI's Special Rupee Vostro Account mechanism (introduced July 2022) for rupee-denominated trade settlement.
- India has consistently opposed a unified BRICS currency, favouring interoperability among national payment systems instead.
The "cross-border payments" item on the 2026 summit agenda continues this unresolved 2024 Kazan proposal, and reflects India's preference for linking national systems over creating a common currency.
Bharat Mandapam and India's Multilateral Summit-Hosting Infrastructure
The choice of venue links the 2026 BRICS Summit to India's recent experience hosting major multilateral gatherings.
Key Details
- Bharat Mandapam, the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, was inaugurated in July 2023 and previously hosted the 18th G20 Summit on 9-10 September 2023.
- Its reuse for the 2026 BRICS Summit reflects continuity of the summit-hosting infrastructure built during India's G20 presidency (2022-23).
India hosting two major multilateral summits — the G20 in 2023 and BRICS in 2026 — at the same venue is a testable link between India's G20 legacy and its current BRICS chairship.
- 18th BRICS Summit: New Delhi, 12-13 September 2026, held at Bharat Mandapam.
- India's BRICS chairships: 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2026 (its fourth time).
- BRICS term coined 2001 (Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs); 1st summit held 2009 (Yekaterinburg, Russia); South Africa joined 2010.
- G4 nations seeking UNSC permanent seats: India, Brazil, Germany, Japan.
- Bharat Mandapam previously hosted the 18th G20 Summit, 9-10 September 2023.