On September 12–13, 2026, India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi — the same venue that hosted the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2023. PM Narendra Modi presided as chair of the bloc for India’s fourth time holding the BRICS presidency. The theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
What emerged was a 140-point New Delhi Declaration, unanimously adopted by all 11 full members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. It was, by any measure, India’s most consequential multilateral hosting since the G20.
The BRICS of 2026 Is Not the BRICS of 2009
When BRICS was formed in 2009, it was an acronym for five large emerging economies making noise on the margins of the global order. Today it is something structurally different:
- 11 full members representing ~49.5% of the world’s population
- 10 partner countries — a new tier created in 2025, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and others
- ~40% of global GDP at purchasing power parity — it crossed the G7’s share in 2023
- ~26% of global trade by value
- $32 billion approved by the New Development Bank across 96 projects
China and Russia have been the loudest advocates for rapid expansion. India and Brazil pushed for a slower, more selective approach. India’s chairship settled on a “consolidation before expansion” posture — no new full members were admitted at the 2026 summit, a position that reflected India’s preference for a cohesive bloc over a maximally large but fractious one.
What India Won at This Summit
1. China and Russia, on record, backing India’s UNSC bid
This is the headline. The New Delhi Declaration explicitly states that China and Russia — both P5 members with veto power at the UN Security Council — reiterate their support for India and Brazil becoming permanent members of the UNSC.
China has historically been ambiguous on India’s UNSC bid — supporting it in principle while never leaning into it with the kind of clarity that could generate momentum. Getting this language into a 140-point unanimous declaration, at a summit India chaired, is a diplomatic win that will be cited for years. It does not guarantee India a seat — UNSC reform requires a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly and amendment of the UN Charter — but it removes any ambiguity about where BRICS’s two P5 members stand.
2. All 11 members condemned the Pahalgam terror attack by name
On April 22, 2025, terrorists killed 26 civilians — mostly tourists — in Pahalgam, Kashmir. India spent months pushing for multilateral condemnation. The New Delhi Declaration includes explicit condemnation of the attack from all 11 BRICS members, including China and Russia.
Pakistan was not named as a state sponsor — India pushed for this, but the bloc’s consensus politics did not allow it. Still, having China sign onto a condemnation of a terror attack on Indian soil is not nothing. It boxes Beijing in, at least rhetorically, on cross-border terrorism.
3. BRICS Pay went live — India’s RBI led the technical framework
The Reserve Bank of India coordinated the technical architecture for BRICS Pay, a blockchain-based cross-border payment and messaging system supporting settlement in 23 currencies. It formally launched at the summit, linking payment infrastructure across 75 countries.
This is the most concrete de-dollarisation outcome of the BRICS process. Intra-BRICS local currency trade has surged from approximately 20% (pre-2022) to 67% in early 2026 — the Russia-Ukraine war and subsequent Western sanctions created an urgent push to reduce dollar dependency within the bloc. BRICS Pay is the infrastructure that makes that durable.
India’s position was important here: it opposed a single BRICS currency (pushed for by China and Russia), arguing instead for bilateral local-currency settlement with interoperable infrastructure. The BRICS Pay framework reflects India’s position — multi-currency, not a new reserve currency.
The De-Dollarisation Question: What Is Actually Happening
There is significant noise about “de-dollarisation” and whether the dollar is being dethroned. The honest answer is: not yet, but structural shifts are underway.
What is real:
- 67% of intra-BRICS trade now settles in local currencies, up from ~20% before 2022
- BRICS Pay enables rupee-ruble, yuan-dirham, real-riyal settlement without touching the dollar for those flows
- NDB loans are increasingly denominated in local currencies (~22% currently, target 30%)
- The dollar’s share of global reserves has fallen from ~71% in 2000 to ~58% today (IMF COFER data)
What is not happening:
- No single BRICS currency was agreed upon, or even close
- The dollar remains dominant for global commodity pricing, trade finance, and reserve holdings
- India explicitly resisted a “BRICS currency” because it would require surrendering monetary sovereignty
- Saudi Arabia’s full ratification of BRICS membership remains uncertain; Riyadh is preserving its US relationships
The honest framing: BRICS Pay creates the pipes for a multipolar payments world. Whether that world materialises depends on political will across 11 diverse members with conflicting interests — India-China border tensions, Iran’s isolation from Western finance, Russia’s wartime economy, and Brazil’s democratic governance all pull in different directions.
The New Development Bank: India Is the Biggest Beneficiary
The NDB — sometimes called the “BRICS Bank” — was established in 2015 and is headquartered in Shanghai. India holds equal founding membership with Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa.
As of the 2026 summit:
- $32 billion+ approved globally across 96 projects
- India: 32 projects, $9.5 billion — the single largest country portfolio
- Projects funded: Mumbai Metro Lines 2A/2B/7, Nagpur Metro, Pune Ring Road, Kaleshwaram Irrigation, renewable energy capacity
The NDB lends in local currencies at competitive rates, reducing the currency risk that has plagued developing-country borrowing from the IMF and World Bank. India has been the most active borrower, which partly explains its strong interest in keeping the NDB functional and independent of geopolitical turbulence.
What the Bloc Looks Like Internally — Not a Monolith
BRICS is often described as a coherent anti-Western bloc. The reality is messier and more interesting.
On expansion: China wants maximum membership to build a counterweight to the West. India wants careful vetting. The 2026 summit added no new full members, reflecting India’s influence as chair.
On a BRICS currency: China and Russia want it. India and Brazil don’t. The final framework — BRICS Pay with multi-currency settlement — is India and Brazil’s position.
On Iran: Iran is a full BRICS member while under heavy Western sanctions. UAE is also a full member and has deep US economic ties. Both sat at the same table in New Delhi. India brokered compromise language that acknowledged both.
On the Pahalgam condemnation: India wanted stronger language naming Pakistan. The final text condemned the attack without naming a state actor — a compromise India accepted to get the unanimous declaration.
This is what India’s multi-alignment looks like in practice: extracting concrete wins (UNSC language, Pahalgam condemnation, BRICS Pay architecture, NDB projects) while navigating deep contradictions within a diverse bloc.
BRICS vs G7: The Numbers
| Metric | BRICS (11) | G7 |
|---|---|---|
| Share of global population | ~49.5% | ~10% |
| Share of global GDP (PPP) | ~40% | ~30% |
| Share of global trade | ~26% | ~27% |
| Share of global land area | ~30% | ~16% |
| Combined foreign exchange reserves | ~$5.5 trillion | ~$3.2 trillion |
The GDP-PPP comparison crossed in 2023 and is a frequently cited data point. The important caveat: GDP at market exchange rates (not PPP) still shows the G7 ahead, and for trade-finance and reserve-currency purposes, market rates matter more than PPP. But the direction of travel is clear.
What It Means for the World
The BRICS 2026 summit signals three structural shifts playing out slowly:
1. The payments architecture is being rewired. BRICS Pay is not replacing SWIFT tomorrow. But it is building an alternative that did not exist five years ago. For countries worried about being cut off from dollar-based finance — and there are many after the Russia sanctions — this matters.
2. The Global South is gaining institutional weight. The New Delhi Declaration called for reform of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO voting structures to reflect current economic reality. India has been the most articulate voice for this — not as an anti-Western position, but as a corrective to institutions designed in 1944 that haven’t kept pace with where economic weight actually sits.
3. India is positioning itself as the bloc’s moderate anchor. India held the BRICS chair while also being a Quad member, an SCO member, a G7 dialogue partner, and an increasingly close US strategic partner. It used this summit to demonstrate that it can lead a bloc that includes both Iran and UAE, both Russia and Saudi Arabia — and still deliver a unanimous declaration. That is a significant proof of concept for India’s multi-alignment doctrine.
The Shortfalls — What Did Not Happen
An honest assessment requires naming what was missing:
- No concrete UNSC reform mechanism or timeline — the declaration endorses the principle, not a plan
- No new trade agreement — BRICS trade is ~$1.17 trillion but much of it is bilateral; there is no BRICS free trade framework
- Pakistan not named in the Pahalgam condemnation — India’s most wanted outcome was not achieved
- Saudi Arabia’s participation remains ambiguous — Riyadh has not fully ratified membership and sends mixed signals
- Brazil’s President Lula did not attend in person — represented by the Foreign Minister due to domestic election timing
- NDB local-currency lending at 22% vs the 30% target — still below its own goal
- Implementation record on past declarations is thin — BRICS summits produce ambitious documents; follow-through is uneven
What Happens Next
India’s BRICS presidency ends in December 2026. China takes the chair in 2027.
The shift will be significant. China will use its chairship to push harder on BRICS currency, maximum expansion, and a more explicitly anti-Western posture. India’s influence will diminish from the chair position — though as the bloc’s third-largest economy and most diplomatically active member, it will remain a central voice.
The test of whether the New Delhi Declaration produces results will come in:
- Whether BRICS Pay sees actual transaction volume from non-sanctioned trade flows
- Whether the UNSC reform language translates into a coordinated General Assembly push
- Whether the NDB reaches its 30% local-currency lending target
- Whether the 10 partner countries are offered a pathway to full membership, and on what terms
India has defined what it wants from BRICS: a legitimate, data-driven voice for the Global South that reforms — rather than replaces — the existing multilateral order. The New Delhi Declaration is the clearest articulation of that vision yet.