BRICS 2026: New Delhi Declaration and India's Fourth Chairship
The 18th BRICS Summit was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 12–13 September 2026 under India's 2026 chairship, with the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability"
Leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration by consensus, covering trade, climate finance, critical minerals, energy transitions, and reform of global governance institutions
Member states pushed back on unilateral trade measures such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), calling such measures discriminatory, while agreeing to expand cooperation on local-currency trade settlement
The declaration reiterated calls for strengthening the voice of the Global South in institutions such as the UN Security Council, IMF and World Bank
This was India's fourth BRICS chairship, following 2012, 2016 and 2021
BRICS: Origin, Expansion and Institutional Structure
BRICS began as an informal grouping ("BRIC") coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in 2001 to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China as emerging economic powers. The grouping held its first formal summit in 2009 (Yekaterinburg, Russia); South Africa joined in 2010, making it "BRICS." In 2024, the bloc expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Indonesia joined as a full member in 2025, taking membership to 11 countries as of the 2026 summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE).
The 2026 New Delhi Declaration is the outcome document of India's fourth chairship, reflecting the enlarged 11-member bloc's collective positions on trade, climate finance and multilateral reform — a structure and expansion history UPSC frequently tests via membership-year and headquarters-based prelims questions.
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and Climate Trade Friction
CBAM is the European Union's carbon tariff on imports of emissions-intensive goods (iron, steel, cement, aluminium, fertilisers, hydrogen, electricity), designed to equalise the carbon cost borne by EU domestic manufacturers under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) with that of importers. It entered its definitive financial (payment) phase on 1 January 2026, following a transitional reporting-only phase from 2023–2025.
The New Delhi Declaration's climate-finance and trade language directly reflects this CBAM pushback, positioning BRICS as a bloc contesting unilateral climate-trade measures while favouring negotiated, multilateral carbon market mechanisms (such as Paris Agreement Article 6).
National Critical Mineral Mission and MMDR Act, 1957 Amendment
Critical minerals are those essential for economic development and national security whose supply chains carry high disruption risk. India's Ministry of Mines has identified 30 critical minerals for the country, following the model of similar lists maintained by the US, EU, Japan and Australia.
The declaration's critical minerals coordination language responds to global supply concentration — China controls roughly 70% of global rare-earth mining and about 90% of refining capacity — and China's 2025 export-licensing curbs on rare-earth magnets, which affected countries including India (which sourced about 93% of its rare-earth magnet imports from China in FY24-25).
- 18th BRICS Summit: 12–13 September 2026, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
- BRICS membership: 11 countries as of 2026 (5 founding + Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE from 2024 + Indonesia from 2025)
- New Development Bank: est. 2015, HQ Shanghai, founding capital USD 100 billion
- CBAM definitive phase began: 1 January 2026 (transitional phase 2023–2025)
- MMDR Amendment Act, 2023: 24 critical and strategic minerals added to Schedule I
- India's National Critical Mineral Mission outlay: ₹16,300 crore (FY24-25 to FY30-31)
- China's global rare-earth refining share: approximately 90%
- India's prior BRICS chairships: 2012, 2016, 2021