Day two of BRICS Summit: PM Modi warns of ‘weaponisation’ of tech and critical minerals
The 18th BRICS Summit was held on September 12–13, 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, under India's presidency, with all 11 full BRICS members participating.
Leaders unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, a wide-ranging document (reported to run to roughly 140 points) covering reform of international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank), support for a more representative and multipolar UN Security Council, opposition to unilateral tariffs and secondary sanctions, and condemnation of the April 2026 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Adoption followed negotiations that reportedly continued until around 4 am, with differences between two member states over the West Asia conflict needing to be bridged; an earlier meeting of BRICS foreign ministers under India's presidency had concluded without a joint statement on the same issue.
In the summit's concluding session, India's closing remarks as chair flagged the "weaponisation" of technology and critical minerals as a risk to shared global progress, and called for inclusive technology adoption, resilient supply chains, digital agriculture, and clean-energy cooperation.
The UN Secretary-General, in New Delhi for the summit, stated in an interview that the UN Security Council is "paralysed" but that the UN as an institution is "not broken," and offered a positive assessment of ongoing mediation efforts toward the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The declaration additionally called for restraint in West Asia and a two-state solution in Gaza, while stopping short of directly condemning specific strikes in the region.
BRICS: Origin, Expansion, and Institutional Character
BRICS began as "BRIC," a term coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill to describe Brazil, Russia, India, and China as emerging economic powers. The grouping held its first formal summit at Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009. South Africa joined in 2010, turning BRIC into BRICS. It functions as a non-treaty-based plurilateral forum (not a formal international organisation with a charter) that operates by consensus and a rotating annual presidency.
The 2026 summit was India's first as BRICS chair since the bloc's expansion, making consensus-building across a much larger and more diverse membership (spanning rival regional actors) the central diplomatic challenge — reflected in the drawn-out negotiations over the joint declaration.
Diplomatic Outcome Documents: Declaration vs Joint Statement vs Communique
Multilateral summits produce different categories of outcome documents with different legal and political weight. A joint declaration is a formal, comprehensive statement of shared positions adopted by consensus of all participating heads of state/government, generally the highest-status outcome document at a summit. A joint statement or communique can be a lighter-weight text, sometimes issued at ministerial level, and its absence (as opposed to a declaration) signals an inability to reach consensus at that level.
The gap between the failed foreign ministers' statement and the leaders' unanimous declaration illustrates how consensus is harder to secure at a technical/ministerial level than at the highest political level, where leaders have more room to paper over differences through carefully negotiated language.
UN Security Council: Structure, Veto, and the Reform Debate
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has 15 members: 5 permanent members (P5 — US, UK, France, Russia, China) with veto power, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the UN General Assembly. Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, decisions on substantive matters require the affirmative vote of 9 members, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members — meaning any P5 member can block action through a veto.
The New Delhi Declaration's call for a more "representative and multipolar" Security Council echoes India's long-standing G4-backed reform push, while the UN Secretary-General's remark that the Council is "paralysed" is a direct reference to repeated P5 vetoes blocking action on conflicts such as Ukraine and Gaza.
Critical Minerals and Supply-Chain Security
Critical minerals are raw materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, graphite) that are economically essential, especially for clean energy, electronics, and defence technologies, but face high supply-chain concentration or disruption risk. A Ministry of Mines expert committee (November 2022) identified 30 critical minerals for India, of which 24 were placed under Part D of the First Schedule of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, giving the Central Government exclusive authority to auction their mining leases.
The concluding session's warning against weaponising technology and critical minerals directly reflects India's stated concern over import dependence and its parallel domestic push (via the NCMM and KABIL) to diversify and secure supply chains for minerals essential to renewable energy and electronics manufacturing.
India's Mediatory Diplomacy on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
India has maintained a policy of strategic autonomy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict since it began in February 2022 — abstaining on most UN resolutions condemning Russia while engaging both Moscow and Kyiv diplomatically, a continuation of its historical non-aligned foreign-policy tradition adapted to a multipolar framework.
The Secretary-General's positive assessment of India's mediation efforts, delivered on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, situates India's diplomatic outreach as one of the informal mechanisms states use to work around a deadlocked Security Council.
- 18th BRICS Summit: September 12–13, 2026, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi; India held the rotating presidency.
- New Delhi Declaration: adopted unanimously; reported to comprise roughly 140 points.
- BRICS full membership (11): Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia.
- BRIC term coined 2001 (Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs); first summit 2009 (Yekaterinburg); South Africa joined 2010; four new members added 2024 (Kazan summit); Indonesia joined January 2025.
- New Development Bank (BRICS Bank): established 2015, headquartered in Shanghai.
- UNSC: 15 members (5 permanent with veto — US, UK, France, Russia, China; 10 non-permanent, 2-year terms); Article 27 of the UN Charter governs voting.
- G4 grouping (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan): formed 2004-05, seeks permanent UNSC seats.
- Uniting for Peace Resolution: UNGA Resolution 377A, adopted 1950.
- India's National Critical Mineral Mission: Cabinet-approved 2025, outlay approximately ₹34,300 crore over seven years; 24 of 30 identified critical minerals placed under Part D, First Schedule of the MMDR Act, 1957.
- India has served as a non-permanent UNSC member eight times, most recently 2021-22.