BRICS Summit 2026: Dates, Agenda and Key Outcomes

Overview

The 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit was held in New Delhi, India, from 12 to 13 September 2026. Hosted at Bharat Mandapam, the summit was chaired by India under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” 

The meeting marked the 20th anniversary of BRICS and brought together leaders of the expanded 11-member grouping, along with partner countries and outreach invitees. Discussions focused on global governance, trade, terrorism, regional conflicts, artificial intelligence, development finance, climate resilience and cooperation among countries of the Global South.

Dates and official programme

India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued the following schedule for the leaders’ summit:

     

Date	Main programme
Saturday, 12 September 2026	Arrival of BRICS leaders; closed session on “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism”; Bharat Innovates exhibition; leaders’ family photograph; joint tree plantation; official gala dinner
Sunday, 13 September 2026	Arrival of BRICS partner-country and outreach leaders; family photograph; open session on “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”

The wider BRICS programme included ministerial, business, parliamentary and expert-level meetings held in advance of the leaders’ meeting. India stated that more than 400 BRICS-related meetings and engagements had taken place across 30 Indian cities during its chairship.

Central diplomatic outcome

The summit adopted the New Delhi Declaration, a joint statement agreed by consensus. Reaching agreement was itself diplomatically significant because BRICS members had faced differences over language concerning conflicts in West Asia, particularly involving Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

The declaration reaffirmed the BRICS principles of:

• Sovereign equality.
• Mutual respect and understanding.
• Solidarity and consensus.
• Opposition to unilateralism.
• Greater representation for emerging markets and developing countries.
• Reform of international institutions.
• A stronger role for the United Nations in global affairs.

BRICS leaders called for a more representative and accountable international system and repeated their support for reform of the UN Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions. China and Russia also reiterated support for Brazil and India to play a greater role in the United Nations, including the Security Council.

Major issues discussed

1. Global governance and the Global South

A central theme was the demand for greater representation of emerging markets and developing countries in international decision-making. The declaration argued that the existing global system does not adequately reflect current economic and political realities.

BRICS members supported reforms to the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. They called for greater voting power and leadership representation for developing countries, particularly those in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The declaration also presented BRICS as a platform for amplifying the concerns of the Global South, including on development, poverty, inequality, climate change, trade and technology.

2. Trade, tariffs and sanctions

The declaration criticised unilateral tariffs, non-tariff barriers and other restrictive trade measures that BRICS members said were inconsistent with World Trade Organization principles.

Members condemned unilateral coercive measures and sanctions that are not authorised by the UN Security Council. The statement argued that such measures can affect food security, healthcare, development and the wider global economy.

However, the summit did not announce a retaliatory trade bloc or a new common tariff system. Its approach was to support a rules-based multilateral trading system centred on the WTO.

3. No common BRICS currency

Despite continuing speculation about a unified BRICS currency, the summit did not create one.

Instead, members supported further work on:

• Trade settlements in national currencies.
• Faster and cheaper cross-border payments.
• Greater interoperability between payment systems.
• Local-currency financing by the New Development Bank.
• Technical cooperation through the BRICS Payment Task Force.

The declaration recognised that members have different financial systems and national priorities. It therefore favoured a gradual, consensus-based approach rather than an immediate common currency.

4. West Asia and the Middle East

The declaration expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in West Asia and called for maximum restraint, dialogue and diplomacy. 

It avoided directly assigning responsibility to individual countries, reflecting the divisions within the expanded BRICS membership. At the same time, it raised concerns about attacks on civilian infrastructure and safeguarded nuclear facilities, and stressed the importance of protecting energy supplies, trade routes and global supply chains.

On Gaza and the Palestinian issue, BRICS leaders:

• Called for the continuation of the ceasefire.
• Demanded unhindered humanitarian access.
• Opposed the forced displacement of Palestinians.
• Condemned attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
• Reaffirmed support for UNRWA.
• Supported a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

The declaration also addressed Lebanon and Syria, calling for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and support for an inclusive, Syrian-led political process.

5. Terrorism and the Pahalgam attack

One of India’s most important diplomatic objectives was the inclusion of strong language on terrorism.

The New Delhi Declaration condemned terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations” and specifically condemned the 22 April 2025 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed and many others injured.

It also referred to:

• Cross-border movement of terrorists.
• Terrorist financing.
• Safe havens.
• Extremism and radicalisation.
• The need to prevent double standards in counter-terrorism.

The declaration stated that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group. It called for closer cooperation through the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group.

6. Artificial intelligence and technology

BRICS members treated artificial intelligence as both an economic opportunity and a governance challenge.

The declaration supported wider access to AI resources, particularly for developing countries, while highlighting the need for AI to be:

• Safe and secure.
• Inclusive and reliable.
• Energy-efficient.
• Trustworthy.
• Accessible to the Global South.

The leaders also welcomed India’s role in hosting the AI Impact Summit in February 2026 and supported implementation of the BRICS Leaders’ Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence.

7. India-led initiatives

India used its chairship to promote several initiatives in digital technology, health, industry and development.

The summit welcomed or supported: 

• A proposed BRICS repository for digital public infrastructure.
• Pilot projects using digital public infrastructure across member countries.
• A BRICS Training Hub Network.
• Centres of Excellence on mental well-being, coordinated by NIMHANS in Bengaluru.
• An India Centre for BRICS Industrial Competencies.
• Cooperation to help manufacturing companies and small businesses adopt Industry 4.0 technologies.
• A BRICS–New Development Bank Knowledge Portal.
• A Task Force on Growth and Development.
• Discussions on a BRICS Risk Lab at Gujarat’s GIFT City.

These initiatives gave India’s chairship a practical and technology-focused character.

Significance of the summit

The summit demonstrated both the influence and the limitations of the expanded BRICS grouping.

On one hand, BRICS produced a consensus declaration covering global governance, trade, development, terrorism, technology and regional conflicts. The inclusion of specific language on the Pahalgam attack was especially important for India.

On the other hand, the declaration showed that BRICS members do not share identical views on major geopolitical disputes. The wording on West Asia was deliberately cautious and avoided directly blaming individual countries. Similarly, the summit advanced work on local-currency payments but stopped short of creating a common BRICS currency or a fully integrated financial system.

The main achievement was therefore not the creation of a new institution, but the preservation of consensus among a larger and more politically diverse group. The New Delhi Declaration positioned BRICS as a stronger voice for the Global South while leaving many proposals—such as payment integration, investment mechanisms and institutional reform—to future negotiations.

Conclusion

The 2026 BRICS Summit took place on 12–13 September 2026 in New Delhi, with associated activities forming part of a broader programme. Its principal outcome was the consensus adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, which addressed global governance, trade restrictions, terrorism, West Asian conflicts, Palestine, artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure and development finance.

India’s chairship secured several priorities, particularly stronger condemnation of terrorism, support for Global South representation and new cooperation initiatives in technology, health and industry. Nevertheless, the summit also confirmed that BRICS remains a diverse coalition whose decisions depend on compromise rather than complete strategic unity.