Blitz Bureau
India holds the BRICS chairmanship through 2026 and is preparing to host the grouping’s leaders’ summit in New Delhi on September 12–13, its fourth time in the chair since 2012 — a platform it is using to press a steady, development-first agenda for the Global South.
Under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” India has spent the first half of the year hosting ministerial meetings and shaping the agenda around trade, technology, climate finance and reform of global institutions. Preparations have included a foreign ministers’ gathering in the capital and a widening guest list, with participation confirmed at the highest levels.
Hosting a major summit is as much about agenda-setting as ceremony — a chance to translate India’s voice for the Global South into concrete cooperation.
At a Glance
- Role: India chairs BRICS in 2026 (4th time since 2012)
- Summit: New Delhi, September 12–13
- Theme: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability
- Focus: Trade, technology, climate finance, reform
For India, the chairmanship dovetails with a broader diplomatic season that has run in parallel with its trade openings to the UK and the United States — positioning New Delhi as a bridge between advanced economies and the developing world rather than a partisan of any bloc.
The constructive measure of success will be substance over spectacle: practical outcomes on payment connectivity, supply-chain resilience and climate finance that outlast the summit itself and deliver tangible benefits to member economies and their partners.
