India is set to host the 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, with the Ministry of External Affairs releasing the schedule for the two-day meeting. The summit will be held at Bharat Mandapam and will bring together leaders of BRICS member and partner countries as well as outreach invitees.
The programme includes a closed-door session for BRICS members, the Bharat Innovates exhibition, a leaders' family photograph, a joint tree-planting exercise and a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the first day. The second day will include the arrival of partner-country leaders and outreach invitees, followed by an open session focused on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.
BRICS Summit schedule for September 12
The first day will begin with the arrival of leaders of BRICS member countries at Bharat Mandapam. According to the MEA schedule, the programme is:
- 2:00 pm: Arrival of BRICS leaders at Level 2, Bharat Mandapam, followed by an official photo opportunity.
- 2:35 pm: Closed session for BRICS member countries on "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism" at the Summit Hall.
- 4:25 pm: Leaders witness the "Bharat Innovates Exhibition" at Hall 14.
- 5:05 pm: Family photograph of BRICS member-country leaders at the outside lawns.
- 5:10 pm: Joint tree plantation involving leaders of BRICS member countries.
- 7:30 pm: Gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Level 3 of Bharat Mandapam.
The MEA has said clean feeds of several events will be available through the BRICS and MEA YouTube channels and Doordarshan. The photo stream will also be available through BRICS Flick.
BRICS Summit schedule for September 13
The second day will begin with the arrival of heads of government and heads of state of BRICS partner countries and outreach invitees.
The MEA schedule lists the following programmes:
- 9:55 am: Arrival of leaders of BRICS partner countries and outreach invitees at Level 2, Bharat Mandapam.
- 10:35 am: Family photograph at Level 2.
- 10:50 am: Open session titled "Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth" at the Summit Hall.
The open session is part of India's broader BRICS agenda for 2026, which is centred on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability. India's chairship theme is "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability".
What is BRICS and who are its members?
BRICS is a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries of the Global South. It does not have a constitutive treaty, its own budget or a permanent secretariat, and its cooperation traditionally revolves around three broad pillars: political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
The grouping currently has 11 full members:
Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia formally joined as a full member in January 2025.
BRICS also has a partner-country category, which was created at the 2024 Kazan Summit. The current partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Partner countries are generally invited to the leaders' summit and can take part in other BRICS meetings when there is consensus among the members.
Why the 2026 summit matters
India assumed the BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026, for the fourth time, having previously held it in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The year also marks 20 years since the establishment of BRICS.
Under India's chairship, the group has focused on strengthening cooperation across its three established pillars while also advancing practical, development-oriented initiatives. The MEA says more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held across more than 25 Indian cities during India's chairship ahead of the leaders' summit.
The summit is therefore the culmination of a year of ministerial, official and other BRICS engagements hosted across India. Leaders are expected to exchange views on strengthening cooperation within the grouping and on global and regional matters of common interest.
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