BRICS Summit 2026: India’s Chairship Centres on Four Pillars of Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, Sustainability
- IBEF
- September 9, 2026
India is set to conclude its 2026 BRICS Chairship with the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026. India’s Chairship, which began on January 1, 2026, is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, reflecting a people-centric approach towards strengthening collaboration among emerging economies and developing countries. The resilience pillar focuses on strengthening economic, social and institutional systems to address global uncertainties, supply-chain disruptions, health challenges and climate-related risks. Innovation emphasises emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and financial technology (fintech) to support service delivery and future-ready growth. Cooperation focuses on deeper policy coordination, development finance, trade facilitation and reforms in global governance institutions, while sustainability highlights collective action on climate change, green finance, energy transition and sustainable development. BRICS currently comprises 11 full members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and represents around 49.5% of the world’s population, 40% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 26% of global trade.
The 2026 Chairship marks India’s fourth time leading BRICS, following its earlier chairships in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The grouping’s cooperation continues to be organised around three broad pillars: Political and Security; Economy and Finance; and Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges, while its agenda has expanded to include areas such as climate change, food and energy security, agriculture, telecommunications, trade, finance and emerging technologies. Building on Brazil’s 2025 Chairship, India’s leadership seeks to strengthen Global South cooperation while advancing practical collaboration across development, technology and sustainability. The expanded BRICS framework also includes a partner-country category comprising Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The New Delhi Summit is expected to provide an important platform for leaders to assess BRICS’ evolving role and chart priorities for deeper cooperation among its expanded membership, with resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability forming the central framework of India’s 2026 Chairship.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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