Trump shadow looms large over Brics as Modi hosts Putin and Xi in Delhi
India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi over two days, bringing together leaders of the now 11-member grouping along with partner countries and international-organisation representatives.
The summit's theme centred on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability, with discussions covering global governance reform, economic cooperation, trade and Global South priorities.
Divergent national interests among members — particularly differing postures toward the United States on trade and tariffs — were flagged as a constraint on the bloc issuing a fully unified position on major global economic questions.
Bilateral meetings were held on the sidelines, including between India and Russia and India and China, alongside the plenary sessions.
BRICS — Origin, Expansion and Current Composition
BRICS began as an acronym coined in a 2001 Goldman Sachs report grouping Brazil, Russia, India and China as major emerging economies; the grouping held its first formal summit in 2009, and South Africa joined in 2010 (making it BRICS). It functions as an informal, consensus-based grouping outside the Bretton Woods system, aiming to give emerging economies greater voice in global economic governance.
The 2026 Delhi summit is the first hosted by India as chair since the bloc's expansion to 11 full members plus a formal partner-country tier, making questions of internal cohesion — highlighted by differing member responses to US tariff and trade pressure — a more prominent structural issue than in the original five-member BRIC(S).
BRICS and the Question of a "Unified" Response to External Pressure
BRICS operates by consensus, not majority vote, and has no binding decision-making mechanism comparable to a treaty organisation. This makes coordinated responses to external pressure (such as tariff measures by a major trading partner) structurally difficult when members have divergent economic dependencies on that partner.
Key Details
- The bloc has no supranational authority; each summit produces a non-binding joint declaration reflecting negotiated common ground.
- Members vary widely in their trade exposure and diplomatic alignment with Western economies, e.g., India maintains a strategic partnership with the US alongside its BRICS membership, while some other members face sanctions or tariff friction with the US.
- The NDB and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA, established 2015, USD 100 billion pool) are the bloc's main financial cooperation tools, functioning as alternatives — not replacements — to IMF/World Bank mechanisms.
Coverage of the 2026 summit noted that pressure linked to US trade policy loomed over discussions, but the bloc's consensus-based structure and members' differing stakes in the US relationship make a single, unified BRICS response unlikely — a recurring structural feature of the grouping rather than a one-off event.
- BRICS full membership (2026): 11 countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia.
- 2024 expansion (Kazan Summit): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE admitted as full members.
- 2025: Indonesia admitted as full member; 10 countries admitted as BRICS Partner Countries.
- New Development Bank: established 2015, headquartered in Shanghai.
- 18th BRICS Summit: hosted by India in New Delhi, 12-13 September 2026, themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."