Sep 08, 2026 17:23 pm IST

Opinion | India Faces A BRICS Challenge. Can It Find A Way Through?

The Delhi Summit is being held at a challenging time. Such circumstances have not been encountered since the BRICS Summits started in 2009 in Russia

Ashok Sajjanhar Ashok Sajjanhar Columnist

Ashok Sajjanhar Columnist

India will be hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026. This will be the fourth time that India will be hosting this summit, the earlier three occasions having been in 2012, 2016, and 2021.

This is a momentous occasion for India because its next turn to host the summit will be after ten years, as the new cycle with members inducted recently in 2024 and 2025 will start from 2028. India has hence put in a great deal of effort and invested considerable political capital to ensure that it is a successful event, with a consensus New Delhi Declaration and substantive outcomes expected on issues of trade, commerce, development cooperation, climate change, alternative trade payment arrangements, etc.

This is also a consequential moment for the BRICS as a nascent but ambitious grouping of EMDCs (Emerging Markets and Developing Countries), as it has never faced a challenge of the nature it is facing today. The expansion of the Organization from five to 11 members took place two years ago. Before the new members had the time to integrate themselves with the parent body, the grouping was confronted with a war in which three of its members were pitted on opposite sides. While the expansion has potentially increased the heft of the body in several ways, it has also presented a huge problem - of formulating a consensus on some of the most divisive geopolitical issues of today. The outcome of the Delhi Summit will thus have a huge impact on the credibility and future evolution of the organisation.

The Delhi Summit is being held at a particularly challenging time. Such circumstances have not been encountered since the BRICS Summits started in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. There are two ongoing conflicts the world faces. The first, between Russia and Ukraine, has been going on since February 2022. All the summits of the grouping since that year have debated and dealt with this conflict in........

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