BRICS New Delhi Declaration: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability
The XVIII BRICS Summit, held in New Delhi from 12 to 13 September 2026 under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," concluded with the unanimous adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, a document running to roughly 140 paragraphs.
The Declaration called for reform of the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF and World Bank) toward more representative, multipolar governance, and backed expanded roles for India and Brazil in a reformed UN structure.
It opposed unilateral tariffs, secondary sanctions, and carbon border adjustment measures that are not compliant with World Trade Organisation rules.
The Declaration condemned the terror attack of 22 April in Jammu and Kashmir and called for strengthened counter-terrorism cooperation, while also expressing concern over Middle East tensions and calling for an immediate ceasefire and a two-state solution in the Gaza conflict.
Discussions also advanced local-currency settlement arrangements and financial-messaging interoperability among member states to build financial resilience.
UN Security Council Reform and the G4 Push for Permanent Membership
The UN Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent members (P5 — US, UK, France, Russia, China) holding veto power, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms under Article 23 of the UN Charter. Reform of this structure — unchanged in composition since 1965 despite UN membership growing to 193 states — has been debated for decades through the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process, active since 2008.
Key Details
- G4 grouping — India, Brazil, Germany, Japan — mutually supports each other's bids for permanent UNSC seats.
- India cites its status as the world's most populous country, fifth-largest economy, and one of the largest historical contributors to UN peacekeeping operations as grounds for permanent membership.
- Reform requires amending the UN Charter (Article 108): two-thirds of the UN General Assembly plus ratification by all P5 members — making P5 consent a practical veto over their own dilution.
Russia and China's reaffirmed support (via the Declaration) for India and Brazil's expanded UN roles is a recurring diplomatic gesture, but any actual seat expansion still requires Charter amendment and unanimous P5 ratification — a distinction UPSC mains answers on UN reform routinely test.
IMF Quota Reform and the 16th General Review of Quotas
IMF quotas determine a member's voting power, access to Fund resources, and Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation. Quotas are reviewed periodically under General Reviews; the 16th General Review of Quotas concluded in December 2023 with a 50% overall quota increase, but this was distributed equiproportionally — leaving each member's relative voting share unchanged, a outcome widely criticised by emerging economies (including India) as failing to correct historical under-representation.
Key Details
- IMF governance: Board of Governors (apex body) and a 24-member Executive Board conducting daily operations.
- India's IMF quota share is roughly 2.75%, far below its share of global GDP.
- The World Bank's IBRD voting structure shows a similar skew toward advanced economies, which is why BRICS Declarations routinely bracket IMF and World Bank reform together.
The Declaration's renewed push for IMF/World Bank reform reflects continuing dissatisfaction with the 16th quota review's equiproportional (rather than realigned) outcome — a live grievance among BRICS economies going into future quota review cycles.
New Development Bank (NDB) and BRICS Financial Architecture
The New Development Bank was established by the agreement signed at the 2014 Fortaleza Summit (Brazil) and is headquartered in Shanghai. It was created as an alternative multilateral development financing channel with governance distinct from the Bretton Woods model.
The Declaration's emphasis on local-currency settlement and financial-messaging interoperability builds directly on the NDB/CRA mandate of reducing dependence on dollar-denominated multilateral finance.
BRICS Counter-Terrorism Cooperation Framework
BRICS institutionalised counter-terrorism cooperation through a dedicated Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted in 2020 and a standing Counter-Terrorism Working Group, distinct from UN-level frameworks such as UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Key Details
- The BRICS Counter-Terrorism Strategy (2020) covers preventing terror financing, countering radicalisation, and cyber-terrorism.
- FATF (established 1989) sets the global anti-money-laundering/counter-terror-financing standards against which member states are periodically evaluated (India completed its FATF mutual evaluation in 2024).
- Distinguishing bilateral condemnations, BRICS-level strategy documents, and binding UN Security Council resolutions is a common exam distinction.
The Declaration's condemnation of the 22 April Jammu and Kashmir attack exercises the BRICS counter-terrorism framework at the political-declaratory level, separate from the binding, sanctions-backed mechanisms operated through the UN and FATF.
- Summit dates and venue: 12–13 September 2026, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
- Declaration length: approximately 140 paragraphs, adopted unanimously
- BRICS founded: 2009 (Yekaterinburg, as "BRIC"); South Africa added 2010
- IMF 16th General Review of Quotas: concluded December 2023, 50% equiproportional quota increase
- NDB founding capital: USD 100 billion (Fortaleza Summit, 2014); CRA size: USD 100 billion (2015)
- India's approximate IMF quota share: ~2.75%