Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the 18th BRICS Leaders Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.
Key world leaders attending include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will miss the summit to focus on domestic general elections, with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira representing Brazil.
New Delhi will host the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit on September 12 and 13, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcoming leaders from the expanded bloc, partner countries and outreach invitees. India is chairing BRICS this year, and the summit will be held at Bharat Mandapam.
The main leaders’ programme begins on Saturday, September 12, with the heads of the 11 BRICS member countries. Partner countries and outreach invitees will join the summit programme on Sunday, September 13. The summit will focus on multilateralism, trade, investment, energy and food security, supply chains and global governance.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is remaining in Brazil to focus on the domestic general election campaign ahead of the country’s October 2026 elections, bricsbrasil.com.br reported. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed he will attend.
Leaders Attending
BRICS has 11 full members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Expected from member countries are Xi Jinping, president of China; Vladimir Putin, president of Russia; Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa; Masoud Pezeshkian, president of Iran; Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, president of Egypt; Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia; Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia; and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, for the UAE. Brazil will be represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
The partner and outreach list includes Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, president of Kazakhstan; Anwar Ibrahim, prime minister of Malaysia; Anutin Charnvirakul, prime minister of Thailand; Miguel Díaz-Canel, president of Cuba; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president of Nigeria; Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president of Uzbekistan; and Jessica Alupo, vice-president of Uganda.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, is expected to attend the summit programme.
Business Forum Agenda
Modi is set to address the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi on Friday, September 11, ahead of the leaders’ summit. Top business leaders from China, Russia, Brazil, the UAE and other BRICS countries are expected to attend.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are expected to speak at the opening session. The discussions will cover agriculture, trade, investment, supply chains and the digital economy.
The meetings will later lead into a leaders’ session, which is expected to be addressed by Modi.
China is sending a large business delegation. Among those expected are Houliang Dai, chairman of CNPC; Lin Liao, chairman of ICBC; and Min Wan, chairman of China COSCO Shipping Corporation. Senior executives from Huawei Technologies and Alibaba Group are also expected to attend.
The Chinese delegation is expected to discuss trade, investment, technology and supply chains with Indian and other BRICS businesses.
Business leaders from other BRICS countries are also expected at the forum. They include Francisco Gomes Neto, president and CEO of Embraer; Gustavo Pimenta, CEO of Vale; Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO of Naspers; Oleg Belozerov, CEO and chairman of Russian Railways; and Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of Sberbank.
The companies represented span energy, banking, technology, shipping, aviation and mining.
Security And Expansion
Delhi has mounted a major security operation for the summit, with thousands of personnel deployed across airports, hotels and the Bharat Mandapam venue.
BRICS was formed in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2010. The grouping expanded again in 2024 when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined, and Indonesia later became a full member.
