The 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit convened in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026, where leaders adopted a joint New Delhi Declaration that addressed regional tensions, sanctions and cooperation among member states.

The New Delhi Declaration expressed ‘‘deep concern’’ about escalating tensions in the Middle East/West Asia and urged ‘‘maximum restraint,’’ calling specifically for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. The declaration also condemned the use of unilateral coercive measures — including unilateral economic and secondary sanctions — and called for their elimination as measures that undermine international law and development.

The joint declaration included an explicit condemnation of the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir and called for ‘‘zero tolerance’’ toward terrorism.

In his address to the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned about the ‘‘weaponization of technology and critical minerals’’ and stressed the need to prevent such weaponization to protect shared progress.

On the sidelines of the summit, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on 12 September in which both sides emphasised boosting business links, mobility and cooperation. Modi also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 11 September; that meeting covered trade, energy, defence and cooperation within BRICS.

India positioned the summit as a forum for Global South coordination, pressing for practical cooperation on trade, supply chains, business and technology in both the declaration and India’s chairship messaging.

Attending leaders included, among others, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.