Archive · 8 Sep 2026
India’s BRICS Summit Plan Targets Trade, AI, Energy, Global South
India is hosting a major meeting of BRICS countries in New Delhi.
The meeting will happen on September 12 and 13.
BRICS is a group of 11 countries that cooperate on shared problems.
India wants the group to help developing countries have a stronger voice in world decisions.
It also wants members to trade more reliably and make supply chains safer.
Countries will discuss easier digital payments and using their own currencies for some transactions.
They will also talk about artificial intelligence, research, energy and climate change.
India wants cooperation to help find people accused of financial crimes and recover stolen money.
The countries do not always agree, so the summit will test whether they can achieve practical results together.
India will host the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.
India’s chairship focuses on resilience, innovation, cooperation, sustainability and a “Humanity First” agenda.
New Delhi aims to strengthen trade, supply chains, digital payments, financial cooperation and the Global South’s influence.
Artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, research cooperation, energy security and climate resilience are central priorities.
India will seek faster cooperation among BRICS enforcement agencies to track economic fugitives and recover illicit assets.
- Who
- India and the expanded 11-member BRICS grouping, including leaders and officials from its member countries.
- What
- The 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit and India’s agenda for cooperation on trade, technology, energy, finance and development.
- When
- September 12 and 13.
- Where
- Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, India.
- Why
- India wants to strengthen practical cooperation, increase the Global South’s influence and address shared challenges.
Practical Development Cooperation
More Explicitly Anti-Western Position
BRICS’s global role
Practical Development Cooperation
India wants BRICS to focus on development, practical cooperation and shared concerns among countries with different political systems and foreign-policy priorities.
More Explicitly Anti-Western Position
China and Russia have often favored a more explicitly anti-Western interpretation of BRICS.
Financial cooperation
Practical Development Cooperation
India is pursuing cheaper and easier cross-border transactions through interoperable payment systems and greater use of national currencies, rather than an immediate common BRICS currency.
More Explicitly Anti-Western Position
The article describes broader discussions about reducing reliance on existing financial arrangements, but does not establish a unified position among all members.
Expansion and consensus
Practical Development Cooperation
India argues that the grouping’s diversity makes practical areas of cooperation especially important.
More Explicitly Anti-Western Position
The differing positions of members including India, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates may make consensus and concrete outcomes more difficult.
- Host
- India
- Summit
- 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit
- Dates
- September 12-13
- Venue
- Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
- BRICS membership
- The grouping has 11 full members; Indonesia became a full member in 2025.
- Chairship theme
- “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”
- Key priorities
- Trade, supply chains, digital payments, artificial intelligence, energy, finance and development