New Delhi, India — 12–13 September 2026
The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026 under India’s chairmanship, with the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The summit brought together the expanded BRICS membership at a time of major economic and geopolitical tensions, including trade restrictions, conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, changes in global supply chains, and growing debates over the future of international institutions.
The summit ended with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, a 140-paragraph document covering political and security issues, economic and financial cooperation, technology, health, climate, energy, agriculture, terrorism, global governance and people-to-people relations. During India’s year-long chairship, more than 400 BRICS meetings and engagements were held across 30 Indian cities.
The outcome was not the creation of a single new BRICS system or a common currency. Instead, the summit produced a large number of initiatives, frameworks and areas of continuing cooperation. Some were already developed through earlier BRICS work, some were advanced during India’s chairmanship, and others remain subject to further technical negotiations.
A central feature of the summit was therefore the attempt to find areas where the expanded BRICS membership could cooperate despite significant differences among its members.
What is BRICS?
BRICS began as BRIC, bringing together Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2010, creating BRICS.
The grouping subsequently expanded. By 2026, its members included Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The expansion changed the character of the group. BRICS now includes countries with different political systems, economic structures, foreign-policy interests and relationships with the United States, Europe and each other.
This diversity is important for understanding the 2026 summit.
BRICS is not a military alliance and does not operate like NATO. It also does not have a single foreign policy. Its members can cooperate on one issue while having different positions on another.
The New Delhi Declaration itself describes BRICS cooperation through three broad pillars:
- political and security cooperation;
- economic and financial cooperation; and
- cultural and people-to-people cooperation.
Economic and Financial Cooperation
Economic cooperation was one of the most practical parts of the summit.
The discussions focused on cross-border payments, local currencies, investment, insurance, infrastructure finance, trade and the resilience of supply chains.
Local currencies: what was actually agreed?
One of the most discussed BRICS subjects in recent years has been reducing dependence on the US dollar in international trade.
The 2026 summit did not create a common BRICS currency.
Instead, BRICS continued work on a more limited and technically practical objective: making it easier for member countries to conduct trade and investment using their national currencies.
The BRICS Payment Task Force has been studying ways in which payment and messaging systems can become more interoperable. The declaration also records discussions on using BRICS local currencies for trade settlements and investments, while recognising that different countries have different priorities and financial systems.
The practical objective is to develop payment arrangements that can potentially make cross-border transactions:
- faster
- cheaper
- more accessible
- more efficient
- transparent
- secure.
This is different from creating a single BRICS currency.
What was not decided?
There was no launch of a common BRICS currency at the New Delhi Summit.
The declaration also does not establish a single BRICS central bank or a monetary union comparable to the euro area.
Therefore, the immediate development is about payment infrastructure and greater use of national currencies, not replacing national currencies with one BRICS currency.
The New Investment Platform
Another major financial initiative was the proposed New Investment Platform (NIP).
The idea is to explore mechanisms through which BRICS countries can improve investment cooperation and potentially direct more capital toward development projects.
However, the platform was not simply switched on as a fully operational new financial institution at the summit.
The declaration says BRICS will continue technical-level work on the NIP. Members discussed creating a dedicated Study Group under the BRICS Finance Track and supported a phased, consensus-based and member-driven approach.
The work also has to take account of different national regulations, institutional mandates and legal systems.
This means the status of the NIP is best understood as:
continued institutional development — not a fully operational new BRICS bank.
BRICS Risk Lab in Gujarat
India also proposed establishing a BRICS Risk Lab at the GIFT City International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat.
The proposal is connected to broader BRICS discussions about strengthening insurance and reinsurance capacity.
The declaration says members expressed interest in taking forward discussions on India’s proposal and that further discussions will be held with interested regulators and reinsurance companies.
The broader idea includes developing common risk models, sharing insurance expertise and improving the ability of BRICS economies to manage financial and economic risks.
Again, there is an important distinction:
Interest and further discussion do not mean that the proposed Risk Lab is already functioning as a completed BRICS institution.
MSMEs and Invoice Financing
BRICS also worked on mechanisms intended to improve financing access for small and medium-sized businesses.
One important area is invoice discounting.
The basic problem is straightforward.
A small exporter may sell goods to an overseas customer but receive payment only after a period of time. During that period, the exporter still needs working capital to pay employees, suppliers and other expenses.
Invoice financing can allow a business to obtain funding against the value of an invoice rather than waiting for the customer to pay.
The BRICS work seeks to make this type of financing more accessible across participating economies.
This is particularly relevant to developing economies, where smaller businesses can face greater difficulty obtaining affordable working capital.
Trade Restrictions and Tariffs
Trade policy was another area where BRICS expressed a common concern.
The New Delhi Declaration criticised unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures that members said can distort international trade.
This issue had particular relevance because several BRICS economies have faced significant changes in tariff policy and trade restrictions in recent years.
The declaration did not establish a common BRICS tariff policy or a collective trade war strategy.
Instead, BRICS reaffirmed support for a rules-based multilateral trading system and continued cooperation through the World Trade Organization.
This illustrates a broader pattern in the summit:
Members could agree on a general principle even when their individual economic relationships and interests were different.
Supply Chains and Global Value Chains
The summit also addressed the vulnerability of international supply chains.
The COVID-19 pandemic, wars, trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions have shown how disruptions in one region can affect manufacturing and prices elsewhere.
BRICS therefore continued work on strengthening supply-chain resilience and cooperation in areas such as:
- manufacturing
- pharmaceuticals
- food security
- investment
- logistics
- technology
- critical economic infrastructure.
The objective is not to create one BRICS supply chain replacing the global economy. It is to increase cooperation and resilience among member economies while maintaining international trade.
Artificial Intelligence and Technology
Artificial intelligence was another important area of cooperation.
China’s President Xi Jinping called for greater BRICS cooperation in AI, including a proposal for a BRICS AI Open Source Zone.
The broader discussion concerned access to AI technology, innovation, infrastructure and the ability of developing countries to participate in the AI economy. Reuters reported Xi’s call for BRICS to deepen technology and economic cooperation and for the bloc to play a larger role in global development.
The New Delhi Declaration itself recognised AI as an important technology for economic growth and sustainable development.
It called for international cooperation aimed at making AI:
- accessible
- safe
- secure
- inclusive
- reliable
- useful for economic and social development.
It also addressed AI-related risks, energy efficiency, research and innovation.
What did not happen?
BRICS did not create a single AI regulator or one common AI law.
Instead, the emphasis was on cooperation, knowledge-sharing, research, capacity-building and international AI governance while respecting national systems.
Science, Research and Innovation
Technology cooperation was not limited to AI.
BRICS also advanced cooperation in science and innovation through existing working groups and new knowledge-sharing mechanisms.
The summit welcomed the Chennai Consensus Joint Declaration of BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministers.
It also supported the development of a BRICS Science and Research Repository, intended as a voluntary platform for knowledge storage and sharing while respecting national laws, data security and intellectual-property rights.
The broader objective is to connect researchers, institutions and technology ecosystems across member countries.
Digital Agriculture and Food Security
Agriculture was another practical area of cooperation.
BRICS countries are major agricultural producers, but they also face different challenges involving:
- food prices
- fertilizer availability
- climate change
- water
- agricultural productivity
- supply-chain disruptions
The declaration continued work toward a possible BRICS Grain Exchange, while noting that its operating modalities still require further development.
Digital technologies such as AI, data systems and other emerging technologies can also be used for agricultural planning and climate resilience.
The objective is to improve food security and reduce vulnerability to sudden supply disruptions.
Health and Pandemic Preparedness
Health cooperation received significant attention.
BRICS countries discussed strengthening health infrastructure and domestic production of medical products, while improving preparedness for future health emergencies.
The declaration refers to:
- disease surveillance
- laboratory networks
- digital health
- artificial intelligence
- vaccines
- therapeutics
- diagnostics
- public-health research
- regulatory cooperation
- training
The purpose is to improve countries’ ability to detect and respond to infectious-disease outbreaks before they become larger international emergencies.
This is particularly relevant because BRICS countries include some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing centers.
Energy and Climate
Energy security was another major subject because BRICS members have very different energy structures.
Some are major oil and gas producers. Others have large coal-based power systems. At the same time, members are investing in solar, wind, nuclear power, hydrogen, storage and other technologies.
The declaration therefore did not prescribe a single energy model.
Instead, it recognized a broad mix of energy sources and supported cooperation on:
- renewable energy
- nuclear energy
- hydrogen
- energy storage
- smart grids
- low-carbon technologies
- resilient energy supply chains
It also recognized the continued role of fossil fuels in some emerging and developing economies while supporting orderly and inclusive energy transitions.
BRICS also welcomed work on smart grids and energy storage, including cooperation involving AI and advanced data analytics.
Reform of Global Governance
This was one of the central political themes of the summit.
India argued that developing countries have a large role in the global economy but comparatively less influence over many major international decision-making institutions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the issue as a need for the Global South to move from being a “rule-taker” to a “rule-shaper.” He also called for greater representation in global institutions, including the UN Security Council.
The New Delhi Declaration supported reform of the international system and greater participation by emerging markets and developing countries.
It specifically called for greater representation of developing countries in global decision-making structures.
United Nations Security Council Reform
The BRICS declaration went further by explicitly supporting comprehensive UN reform, including reform of the Security Council.
It called for greater representation of developing countries from:
- Africa
- Asia
- Latin America and the Caribbean.
The declaration also recorded support from China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council, for the aspirations of Brazil and India to play a greater role in the UN, including the Security Council.
However, this does not mean that India or Brazil received permanent Security Council seats.
Changing the membership of the Security Council requires a separate UN process involving the wider membership of the United Nations.
Therefore, the BRICS position is political and diplomatic support for reform, not an actual change in the composition of the Security Council.
IMF and World Bank Reform
BRICS also continued its longstanding demand for greater representation of developing economies in the international financial system.
The declaration called for reforms to the Bretton Woods institutions, particularly the IMF and World Bank.
BRICS argued that their governance structures should better reflect changes in the global economy and give emerging and developing economies greater voice and representation.
The declaration also called for progress on IMF quota reform and greater representation in the governance of the IMF and World Bank.
Again, the summit did not itself rewrite the governance structure of these institutions.
The issue requires negotiations involving countries beyond BRICS.
The Most Difficult Issue: The Middle East
The most complicated diplomatic issue at the summit was the war and wider instability in the Middle East.
The difficulty came partly from the composition of BRICS itself.
Iran is a BRICS member. The United Arab Emirates is also a BRICS member.
The two countries have different security interests in the conflict.
Ahead of the summit, BRICS foreign ministers had already struggled to agree on a joint position. The May 2026 foreign ministers’ meeting did not produce a joint statement amid disagreements related to the Iran conflict.
This created a major test for the New Delhi summit.
How Did BRICS Handle the Middle East Disagreement?
The final declaration used general diplomatic language rather than directly assigning responsibility to individual countries.
BRICS leaders expressed deep concern over the escalation in the Middle East and called for maximum restraint.
They also called for:
- avoiding further escalation
- dialogue
- consultation
- diplomacy
- protection of civilians
- protection of civilian infrastructure
- respect for sovereignty
- and peaceful resolution of disputes
Reuters reported that Iran and the UAE both supported the joint declaration despite their different positions and that the wording allowed the expanded BRICS group to reach consensus.
The final wording therefore reflected a compromise:
BRICS could agree that escalation was dangerous and diplomacy was necessary, but it did not adopt a single detailed position assigning responsibility for the conflict.
What Did Xi Jinping Say?
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for BRICS to play a role in bringing peace to the Middle East.
Reuters reported that Xi said China would work with other BRICS members in that role and argued that the war did not serve the common interests of the international community.
Xi’s position placed emphasis on diplomacy and the role of BRICS as a platform for developing countries.
However, the collective declaration remained broader than Xi’s individual remarks.
This distinction matters because a statement made by one leader is not automatically a collective BRICS decision.
Palestine and Gaza
The Palestinian issue was also included in the declaration.
BRICS reaffirmed support for Palestinian rights and a political settlement based on a two-state solution.
The declaration addressed humanitarian issues, protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, humanitarian access and the political status of the Palestinian people.
The issue was therefore treated as both a humanitarian and international-law matter.
Terrorism and the Pahalgam Attack
Terrorism was another important issue for India.
The declaration condemned terrorism in all forms and specifically condemned the 22 April 2025 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.
It also referred to:
- cross-border movement of terrorists
- terrorism financing
- terrorist safe havens
- counter-terrorism cooperation
- extremism and radicalization
The declaration further called for accountability for those involved in terrorism and rejected the use of double standards in counter-terrorism efforts.
This was one of the areas where India’s security concerns were directly reflected in the collective declaration.
Russia–Ukraine War
The Russia–Ukraine conflict also presented a challenge for BRICS because Russia is itself a member.
Other BRICS countries have different relationships with Russia and Ukraine and different views on the conflict.
The summit therefore did not create a common BRICS military or strategic policy regarding the war.
Instead, the broader BRICS approach continued to emphasize dialogue, diplomacy and peaceful resolution of international disputes.
This is consistent with the wider character of the organization: BRICS is a cooperation forum rather than a military alliance.
India–China Relations
The summit also took place against the background of India’s complicated relationship with China.
India and China have major economic ties but also longstanding strategic and border disagreements.
Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the summit.
Reuters reported that Xi described China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective and called for cooperation and shared development. The two countries have been working to stabilize relations after years of tensions following the 2020 border clash.
The BRICS summit, however, did not settle the India-China border dispute.
That remains a separate bilateral issue.
Trade, Sanctions and Unilateral Economic Measures
Another recurring issue was the use of unilateral sanctions and economic restrictions.
Several BRICS countries have faced sanctions or other restrictions from Western countries.
The declaration criticized unilateral measures that BRICS members argue can affect international trade, development and economic stability.
The wording was broad rather than being framed as a collective programmed to bypass specific sanctions.
This distinction is important.
BRICS did not create a single sanctions-bypass system at the summit.
Instead, it continued to develop alternative financial and payment cooperation while expressing opposition to what members described as unilateral coercive economic measures.
Maritime Trade and Seafarers
India also proposed a Seafarers Emergency Support Network.
The proposal addresses an often-overlooked part of international trade.
Large portions of global trade depend on commercial shipping, and seafarers can become vulnerable during wars, blockades, port disruptions or other emergencies.
India argued that BRICS cooperation could provide better emergency support to seafarers during such situations. The proposal was presented as part of India’s wider argument that global governance should respond more effectively to people who keep international trade functioning.
What Was Actually Decided — and What Was Still Under Discussion?
One of the easiest ways to misunderstand the BRICS summit is to treat every item in the declaration as an already functioning institution.
The summit produced different levels of outcomes.
Already established or substantially advanced
These include areas such as:
- BRICS working groups
- payment cooperation
- science and technology cooperation
- counter-terrorism cooperation
- health cooperation
- existing financial mechanisms
- industrial cooperation
- people-to-people programmes
Further development agreed
These include:
- local-currency payment cooperation
- New Investment Platform technical work
- BRICS Risk Lab discussions
- insurance cooperation
- Grain Exchange development
- AI cooperation
- digital and technology initiatives
- development-finance mechanisms
Political positions rather than new institutions
These include:
- UN reform
- Security Council reform
- IMF and World Bank reform
- greater Global South representation
- opposition to unilateral trade restrictions
- positions on international conflicts
This distinction is essential.
A declaration can express political agreement without immediately creating a legally binding institution or operational programme.
Why Was Consensus Difficult?
The expanded BRICS group is much more diverse than the original BRIC grouping.
Its members have:
- different economic models
- different security interests
- different relationships with the United States and Europe
- different relationships with Russia and China
- different regional disputes
- different energy interests
- different positions on conflicts
The Middle East demonstrated this problem clearly.
Iran and the UAE were both inside the same organisation while having sharply different security interests related to the regional conflict.
At the same time, India had to maintain relationships with multiple major powers and trading partners.
The final declaration therefore often used language broad enough to accommodate different national positions.
The fact that a common declaration was adopted despite these differences was itself noted by Indian officials as an outcome of the year-long engagement during India’s chairship.
What BRICS Did Not Do at the 2026 Summit
Several expectations surrounding BRICS should be separated from the actual summit outcome.
The summit did not:
- launch a common BRICS currency
- create a BRICS military alliance
- create a single BRICS foreign policy
- replace the IMF or World Bank
- give India a permanent UN Security Council seat
- establish a new BRICS central bank
- create a single BRICS AI regulator
- establish a collective military response to the Middle East or Ukraine wars
Instead, the summit concentrated on expanding cooperation through existing institutions, new proposals, technical mechanisms and common diplomatic positions.
The Larger Meaning of the 2026 Summit
The New Delhi Summit shows that BRICS is trying to operate on two levels at the same time.
The first is practical economic cooperation.
This includes payments, investment, insurance, trade, technology, energy, agriculture, health and infrastructure.
The second is political representation.
BRICS wants emerging and developing countries to have greater influence in institutions such as the UN, IMF, World Bank and WTO.
These two objectives are connected.
If BRICS countries increase economic cooperation among themselves, they can potentially strengthen their collective position in global economic discussions. At the same time, political disagreements among members can limit how far the group can move toward a unified foreign-policy position.
The 2026 summit therefore demonstrated both sides of BRICS:
cooperation where interests overlap, and carefully negotiated language where interests diverge.
What Changes From Here?
The most important part of the summit may not be the declaration itself, but what happens after it.
Several initiatives require:
- technical studies
- negotiations between governments
- financial and regulatory arrangements
- participation by central banks or other institutions
- national-level implementation
- agreement on operational rules
For example, the New Investment Platform still requires further technical work. The BRICS Risk Lab remains under discussion. Local-currency payment cooperation requires compatibility between different national financial systems. AI cooperation requires countries to reconcile different laws, regulations and technology policies.
Therefore, the implementation stage will determine how much of the summit’s programme becomes operational.
Conclusion
The 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi produced a broad programme of cooperation rather than one single transformative agreement.
Economically, BRICS advanced work on local-currency payments, investment, insurance, MSME finance, trade and supply-chain resilience. Technologically, it expanded cooperation around AI, science, digital systems and industrial innovation. In global governance, members reaffirmed demands for greater representation of developing countries in institutions such as the UN, IMF and World Bank. On international conflicts, the group adopted common diplomatic language while avoiding positions that would have required all members to take the same side in disputes where their interests differ.
The most difficult test was the Middle East. With Iran and the UAE both members of BRICS and affected differently by the conflict, reaching common language was difficult. The final declaration focused on restraint, diplomacy, sovereignty, civilian protection and de-escalation rather than directly assigning responsibility to individual states.
The summit therefore should be understood neither as the creation of a new global order in a single meeting nor simply as a routine diplomatic gathering.
It was a large negotiation over how a diverse group of emerging and developing countries can cooperate economically and politically while retaining their separate national interests.
The clearest distinction for understanding the outcome is:
A proposal is not the same as an agreement, and an agreement is not the same as implementation.
At the end of the New Delhi Summit, BRICS had expanded its list of areas for cooperation and adopted a common declaration. The next stage is to determine which of those commitments become functioning mechanisms and which remain subjects of further negotiation.
Source base: New Delhi Declaration, Government of India; Press Information Bureau; Reuters; Indian Express; Al Jazeera. The article distinguishes official BRICS commitments from reporting and analysis where appropriate.
