From Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The 18th BRICS Summit begins on Saturday at Bharat Mandapam, bringing together leaders of the expanded 11-member grouping under India’s 2026 chairship. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other heads of government for two days of talks on global governance, economic cooperation, food and energy security, and supply-chain resilience.
The gathering marks Xi’s first visit to India in seven years and comes after a cautious thaw in bilateral ties following the 2020 border clashes. A bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi is expected on the sidelines. Officials on both sides have said they will use the occasion to review steps taken to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control and to discuss trade. They have also reiterated that boundary questions will continue to be handled through dedicated bilateral mechanisms, not through BRICS.
India assumed the BRICS chair on 1 January 2026, its fourth such term. The official theme is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” Saturday’s closed-door session is titled “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism.” Sunday’s open session will address inclusive global growth. The summit is scheduled to end with the adoption of a New Delhi Declaration.
Leaders expected include South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is also attending. Putin arrived on Friday for a three-day visit that includes separate talks with Modi on trade, energy and defence.
Trade volume grows, imbalances persist
BRICS now accounts for a large share of India’s external trade. Goods trade with the grouping more than doubled to $417.5 billion in FY26 from $203.1 billion in FY21. Imports, however, grew far faster than exports. India’s trade deficit with BRICS members rose to $226.1 billion. China remains the largest single source of that imbalance. Indian imports from China reached $131.6 billion in FY26 against exports of $19.5 billion, leaving a bilateral deficit of more than $112 billion.
Indian officials have repeatedly flagged the need for more balanced market access and greater Chinese investment. Chinese statements have emphasised expanding practical cooperation and “high-quality” BRICS development. Both governments maintain that economic engagement and political-military issues operate on separate tracks.
Analysts note that the grouping’s economic weight has not erased deeper strategic differences. India and China continue to compete for influence in the Global South, differ on regional security questions, and treat the unresolved border as a core national interest. Military commander-level meetings and Special Representatives talks have continued in recent weeks, including flag meetings along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. Those channels remain bilateral.
Limits of a multilateral platform
BRICS has expanded from five to 11 members and added partner countries. Together they represent a large share of world population and a growing share of global output. India has used its chairship to highlight local-currency settlement, resilient supply chains, disaster preparedness and reform of international institutions. Those are areas of overlapping interest.
They do not, however, resolve the trust deficit that has defined India-China relations since 2020. New Delhi has consistently argued that peace and tranquillity on the border is a prerequisite for a normal relationship. Beijing has stressed the importance of viewing the relationship from a “strategic and long-term perspective.” Neither side has suggested that a BRICS communiqué can substitute for those bilateral understandings.
The summit therefore presents a familiar pattern: leaders will sit together in a multilateral setting, issue a joint statement on global issues, and conduct separate, tightly scripted bilateral talks on the issues that matter most to them. Trade numbers will be cited as evidence of interdependence. The military and diplomatic machinery that manages the LAC will continue to operate on its own calendar.
Whether the New Delhi meeting produces any new language on the boundary or any concrete steps to narrow the trade gap will be clearer after the leaders meet. For now, the official line from both capitals is that the two tracks—multilateral cooperation and bilateral dispute management—will remain distinct. The summit beginning Saturday will test how far that formula can be stretched in public.