India on Thursday officially announced the holding of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026. The event will be attended by leaders of BRICS member states and partner countries, as well as invited representatives of other states in the outreach format, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
The summit will be held at the Bharat Mandapam exhibition complex. The leaders’ meeting will be the key event of India’s chairmanship year in the association.
The theme of the upcoming summit is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, this formulation reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision based on a people-centric approach in the spirit of “Humanity First.”
During the summit, leaders will exchange views on strengthening cooperation within the association on shared priorities, as well as discuss global and regional issues of mutual interest. Expected topics include trade and finance, de-dollarisation of settlements, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, climate resilience, energy security, food security and supply chain resilience.
The summit will be attended by leaders of 11 BRICS member states: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. In addition, India has invited 10 partner countries: Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Officials described the response to the invitations as “encouraging.” Saudi Arabia, previously invited to BRICS, “continues to engage” and has also received an invitation to the summit.
During its chairmanship year, India has held more than 350 high-level meetings and events in over 25 cities across the country. These events were organised under three foundational tracks of cooperation: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, this activity has helped reorient BRICS cooperation towards practical, development-oriented outcomes.
Specific initiatives are expected to be discussed during the summit, including new frameworks for investment and technology cooperation, as well as measures to reduce trade costs and strengthen resilience to climate and other global challenges.
