18th BRICS Summit to start in New Delhi on September 12; Global Leaders to attend

New Delhi: India will host the 18th BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12, 2026, with the two-day high-level gathering of major emerging and developing economies.

BRICS leaders and senior officials from the expanded group will meet for the summit, which is expected to focus on economic cooperation, innovation, sustainability, resilience and intensified collaboration between member states.

India’s BRICS Chairship theme for 2026 is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.

BRICS summit to draw world leaders

Several high-profile world leaders will be attending the summit. The list includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheik Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali are also expected to attend.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira of Brazil and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia will represent their countries.

The summit is also expected to be attended by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.

Senior representatives of international organizations are also expected to participate. They include United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff.

PM Modi Expected to Hold Bilateral Meets

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold several bilateral meetings with visiting leaders on the sidelines of BRICS Summit.

The main meeting will likely be with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These bilateral engagements are expected to provide an opportunity to discuss trade, investment, energy, technology and other areas of mutual cooperation.

Several visiting leaders and senior officials have started arriving in New Delhi ahead of the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira arrived in the national capital Thursday nite. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to arrive Friday morning, with several other leaders expected later in the day.

The BRICS Summit: The Evolution of the Group

BRICS is an evolution of the BRIC group of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The grouping was formally constituted at a meeting of the BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2006.

The first BRIC Summit took place on June 16, 2009, in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

The group expanded in 2010, when South Africa joined, turning BRIC into BRICS. South Africa, for the first time, participated in the BRICS Summit at the third summit in Sanya, China, in April 2011.

In January 2024, BRICS underwent another major expansion with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members.

With the expanded group, the BRICS Summit will be an important platform for global economic and geopolitical issues as it currently represents a big part of the world’s population and economy.

India Will Assume BRICS Chair in 2026

India assumed the BRICS Chairmanship from January 1, 2026. This is the fourth time India is chairing the grouping.

India had earlier held the BRICS Chairship in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

The 18th BRICS Summit to be held in New Delhi thus represents a major diplomatic event for India and is likely to reflect the country’s priorities on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainable development.

Leaders and senior representatives from BRICS member countries and international organizations will converge in the national capital for the two-day summit which is set to continue to be a key focus of global economic and diplomatic discourse.