By Dr Indrani Talukdar
The 18th BRICS Summit hosted by India marks a significant diplomatic moment for India and the wider Global South, demonstrating New Delhi’s ability to build consensus amid deep geopolitical divisions. India’s leadership was particularly evident in bringing together members such as Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, despite their complex regional differences, around a common Joint Statement. The theme of it is “Strengthening Cooperation to Promote Fair Competition, including in Renewable Energy Markets”, with the aim of supporting sustainable energy transitions. The declaration focused on condemning terrorism, conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes, stronger multilateralism, and concerns over unilateral trade measures.
The Summit placed reform of multilateral institutions firmly on the agenda, including a call for a “structural update” of the United Nations Security Council to better reflect contemporary global realities. At the same time, the document rejected “unilateral acts of war” and called for the protection of seafarers and commercial shipping routes amid continuing military tensions in West Asia. Placing a humanity-first and people-centric approach at the heart of its Presidency, India sought to position the Global South not merely as the principal bearer of global crises, but increasingly as a rule-shaper in the evolving international order. Opening the Summit on 12 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described BRICS as having reached a moment of “coming of age”, underscoring India’s vision of a grouping that advances through consensus, cooperation and inclusivity—not opposition to others, but by taking everyone along. As he stated, the task now is to translate BRICS’ internal unity into tangible outcomes on the global stage.
The participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a considerable strategic weight and brought the leaders of three influential powers together on an important multilateral platform. It provided New Delhi with an opportunity to advance its vision of inclusive global governance, strengthen multilateralism and place development, resilience and cooperation at the centre of the international agenda. It helps in shaping a resilient multipolar world order.
The summit comes at a time when the global order is undergoing significant transformation. Developing countries are calling for greater representation in international institutions, a stronger voice in global economic decision-making and a more equitable distribution of development opportunities. India’s chairship enables it to present BRICS as a constructive platform through which emerging economies can shape global discussions on governance, finance, technology, energy, food security and sustainable development. One of the catchlines that India is promoting is “United by Aspirations, Driven by Actions.” The phrase captures the central challenge before the grouping—translating shared development ambitions into practical, measurable cooperation.
For India, the summit has been an opportunity to demonstrate diplomatic leadership, promote strategic autonomy and encourage cooperation without allowing differences among members to undermine the larger objective of strengthening multilateralism.
Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism
Inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism constitute a central pillar of India’s 2026 BRICS Presidency, reflecting New Delhi’s effort to ensure that the institutions shaping the international order better represent contemporary global realities and the aspirations of the Global South. During his address at the 18th BRICS Summit on 12 September 2026, Prime Minister Modi underlined India’s broader approach to multilateralism—inclusive rather than confrontational, representative rather than exclusionary, and focused on solutions rather than blocs.
India’s BRICS leadership therefore seeks to strengthen the voice and representation of developing countries in global decision-making while preserving dialogue and cooperation across geopolitical divides. In this sense, the Global South is being positioned not merely as a recipient of global governance, but as an increasingly important participant in shaping its rules, institutions and outcomes.
Interestingly, India has given a strong signal that the multipolar world order is becoming a reality and there is a decline in unipolar or bipolar hegemonic tendencies.
India’s balanced approach
India has resisted any attempt to frame BRICS as an anti-Western grouping. New Delhi supports reform of the international system, but it does not see confrontation with the West as necessary. India’s balancing and good relationships with almost all countries give New Delhi the capacity to diverge, resulting in resilience.
This is consistent with India’s broader foreign-policy strategy. New Delhi seeks to strengthen its partnerships with Russia and China while simultaneously expanding cooperation with the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and the Gulf countries. BRICS, in this context, is an instrument of strategic autonomy and global engagement rather than an alliance directed against any particular power.
India’s focus throughout the summit remains on development, innovative and sustainable financing, connectivity, health, food security, climate resilience, technology and economic cooperation. It seeks to ensure that the summit’s agenda remains broad and constructive, allowing members with different political systems, strategic interests and external partnerships to participate on a common platform. Prime Minister Modi, during his opening speech, kept a visionary focus on BRICS towards the next 20 years by saying that there needs to be a continuation of institutional momentum. BRICS continuity and implementation mechanism will be significant as it will enable the follow-up of all initiatives and outcomes through the ‘Troika’ arrangement. He also suggested creating a secure digital repository to record the nodal point, timeframe, and implementation status associated with every decision.
Economic and development agenda
The BRICS Business Forum held on 11 September 2026 focused on deepening business connectivity, innovation and technology cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted initiatives such as the BRICS Incubator Network, MSME Portal and Startup Innovation Fund, while the Bharat Innovates Exposition showcased Indian startups and emerging technologies, creating opportunities for investment, partnerships and market access. The Women’s Business Alliance was also emphasised to strengthen women-led enterprises and cross-border business linkages. Discussions on cross-border payments focused on making transactions faster, safer and more efficient, thereby supporting greater intra-BRICS trade and investment. Overall, the Forum sought to build a more integrated BRICS economic ecosystem anchored in innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and inclusive growth. The economic and development agenda has focused on building resilience and advancing practical cooperation among BRICS members.
A common BRICS currency was not adopted, which was unlikely, given the lack of monetary integration and institutional coordination among the members that is required for such an arrangement.
For India, the economic agenda has been especially important. It seeks to connect BRICS discussions with the concerns of developing countries, including affordable finance (innovative and sustainable), technology access, energy security, food supply and sustainable infrastructure and the outcome of the declaration shows that.
Will the Summit be Successful?
Expectations were high for concrete outcomes, including a substantive leaders’ declaration, which was achieved. India demonstrated its diplomatic outreach by convening the expanded BRICS grouping, including Iran and a UAE representative, plus the consensus among all on the joint statement.
The presence of Presidents Putin and Xi highlights the continuing relevance of the Russia–India–China format. By building consensus among countries with different political systems and regional interests, India (over these three days) transformed diversity and non-consensus into an opportunity for cooperation in development finance, energy, food security, technology and global governance.
The summit testifies to India’s successful diplomacy and growing role as a bridge among Global South members as well as between Global South and major powers.
Dr Indrani Talukdar is a Fellow at the Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi
