The 18th BRICS Summit, to be hosted by India in New Delhi on September 12–13, 2026, comes at an important moment for the grouping. BRICS has grown from the original Brazil-Russia-India-China grouping into a much larger forum of emerging economies and developing countries. With the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia, the grouping now has 11 members, while a further set of countries have joined as partner countries.
India’s 2026 chairship is guided by the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The agenda has therefore moved beyond traditional political coordination towards practical cooperation in agriculture, health, energy, trade, technology, urban development, MSMEs, startups, climate action and people-to-people exchanges.
The crucial question, however, is whether BRICS can translate this wide-ranging agenda into a common political outcome. The challenge is particularly significant because geopolitical differences, including disagreements over the West Asia conflict, have already made consensus difficult at some ministerial meetings. India’s task as chair is consequently not to eliminate differences among members, but to find enough common ground for a credible summit declaration.
What is BRICS and how did it evolve?
BRICS is a platform for consultation and cooperation among major emerging markets and developing countries on economic, political, financial and global-governance issues. The grouping began as BRIC. The first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006. The first BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.
South Africa joined in 2011, turning BRIC into BRICS. The grouping then underwent a major expansion. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE became full members in January 2024, followed by Indonesia in January 2025.
The expansion has increased BRICS' economic and diplomatic weight, but it has also made consensus more complicated because the members have different foreign-policy priorities and regional interests.
What is India trying to achieve through the 2026 BRICS chairship?
India’s broad objective is to make BRICS more practical, inclusive and development-oriented. The chairship theme -- Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability is organised around four ideas:
Resilience: strengthening economies, societies and institutions against supply-chain disruptions, climate risks, health emergencies and geopolitical shocks.
Innovation: using technologies such as artificial intelligence, fintech, digital public infrastructure and data-driven systems.
Cooperation: expanding trade, development finance, policy coordination and institutional cooperation.
Sustainability: promoting climate action, green finance, energy transition and sustainable development.
The emphasis is therefore on creating mechanisms that can continue working after the summit rather than merely producing political statements.
What are the most expected economic and trade deliverables?
Trade is one of the central areas of India's BRICS agenda. The grouping made progress on the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030, support for the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, MSME internationalisation and global value chains. One significant proposal is BRICS invoice discounting mechanism. This is aimed at helping smaller businesses obtain trade finance. Guiding principles for assessing export-oriented MSMEs were also adopted. Another major deliverable is the BRICS Global Value Chains Action Plan 2026–2030. It seeks to make supply chains more resilient, efficient and diversified while encouraging greater market access and investment among BRICS economies.
BRICS is also looking at having greater cooperation in the rapidly expanding digital-services economy.
Why are MSMEs and startups receiving so much attention?
India has placed small businesses at the centre of its economic agenda because MSMEs generate employment and are important for inclusive growth. The proposed BRICS MSME Cooperation Portal is intended to connect businesses, technology centres, financial institutions, training organisations and policymakers across member countries.
The agenda also includes a BRICS Incubator Network, which would connect startup incubators and help promising companies find partners and opportunities in other BRICS economies.
India has additionally proposed a BRICS Startup Innovation Fund to catalyse financing for early- and growth-stage startups. These initiatives could eventually create a more integrated innovation ecosystem, although their success will depend on implementation, funding and actual participation by businesses.
What is the significance of the likely outcomes on agriculture cooperation?
Agriculture is one of the strongest examples of India's attempt to make BRICS cooperation directly relevant to ordinary people. Several new mechanisms are being talked about.
These include the BRICS Network on Digital Agriculture, which will promote cooperation in artificial intelligence, geospatial technologies, digital public infrastructure and data-driven agricultural solutions. India is coordinating the initial phase. There is also a Global Forum on Farmers' Rights in Seed Systems, designed to promote dialogue on farmers' rights, traditional knowledge and seed systems. Another initiative is BRICS AGRIN- Agro-Inputs, Genetic Resources and Information Network -- which aims to strengthen cooperation in seeds, agricultural inputs and genetic resources.
What are the new health-related initiatives?
The 16th BRICS Health Ministerial Declaration, unanimously adopted in Chandigarh in July, strengthened cooperation on universal health coverage, pandemic preparedness, digital health, affordable medicines, vaccines and medical technologies. The creation of mechanisms for mental-wellness cooperation, coordinated through NIMHANS, is particularly notable because it expands BRICS health cooperation beyond infectious diseases.
What has BRICS achieved on energy cooperation?
Energy security is particularly important for BRICS because the membership includes major energy producers, consumers and rapidly industrialising economies. At the BRICS Energy Ministers' Meeting in Gurugram, members adopted guiding principles on smart grids and energy storage and launched the BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage. The platform is intended to facilitate knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, regulatory cooperation and pilot projects.
The broader energy agenda covers renewable energy, hydrogen, biofuels, energy storage, critical minerals, carbon-capture technologies, energy efficiency and digitalisation. The challenge will be to balance energy transition with the different development needs and energy mixes of the 11 members.
How important are climate and urban development initiatives?
Climate resilience has been incorporated into several practical BRICS initiatives. Members have adopted Voluntary Principles for Climate-Resilient Urban Infrastructure, encouraging governments to incorporate climate and disaster risks into urban planning, investment, construction and maintenance.
India has also proposed a BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network for applied research, peer learning and institutional cooperation. The BRICS Urban Mobility Hub is intended to facilitate training, expert exchanges and pilot projects in sustainable public transport.
The tech, digital deliverables?
Digital cooperation runs through almost every part of India's BRICS agenda. One proposal is a BRICS Digital Public Infrastructure Repository, designed to facilitate knowledge-sharing and pilot projects involving digital public infrastructure. Digital agriculture, digital health, smart grids, digitally delivered services and digital skilling are similarly being incorporated into the BRICS framework.
Significance of the logistics and global supply-chain agenda this time around?
Recent global disruptions have demonstrated how vulnerable international supply chains can be. The proposed BRICS Logistics Supply-Chain Cooperation Framework seeks to improve the resilience and sustainability of transport and logistics systems.The Global Value Chains Action Plan 2026–2030 complements this effort by encouraging diversification and greater cooperation among BRICS economies. This could be especially relevant for India as it seeks to expand manufacturing, logistics connectivity and integration into global supply chains.
What are the people-centric deliverables?
BRICS CONNECT, a cooperation network for capacity-building, employability, new skills and technologies, is intended to facilitate cooperation on labour-market intelligence, skills forecasting, digital employment services and social security.The agenda also includes a BRICS Youth Cooperation Framework 2026, women's digital-capacity initiatives and stronger academic cooperation. Education discussions have included student and faculty exchanges, scholarships, academic leadership and cooperation on traditional and indigenous knowledge systems.
What is the biggest challenge facing the Delhi Summit?
The biggest challenge is political consensus on West Asia. BRICS works through consensus, but its enlarged membership means that members can have sharply different positions on geopolitical issues. The West Asia conflict is particularly sensitive because countries such as Iran and the UAE have their own regional interests and relationships.
This means India's success should not be judged simply by whether every member agrees on every international conflict. Instead, the key test will be whether India can keep disagreements from overwhelming areas where cooperation is possible.
What would count as a successful BRICS summit for India?
A successful summit would have three dimensions. First, India would ideally secure a common leaders' declaration, demonstrating that the enlarged BRICS can maintain cohesion despite certain political differences. Second, the summit should give political backing to the practical initiatives developed during the year — from MSME finance and startups to digital agriculture, health, energy storage, logistics and climate-resilient infrastructure. Third, India would want BRICS to emerge with a stronger voice for the Global South, particularly on reform of multilateral institutions and international economic governance.
The BRICS summit is shaping up as a test of political consensus and over-all delivery.