The New Delhi Declaration shows BRICS still works

The issue

India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026, its fourth time as chair, under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability". The leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration, which runs to 140 paragraphs.

On West Asia, the declaration expresses deep concern over the escalation of tensions and, "recalling our respective national positions", calls for maximum restraint and for avoiding actions that could aggravate the situation. It stresses the need to keep global trade, supply chains and energy flowing. It condemns unilateral coercive measures contrary to international law, including unilateral economic sanctions, secondary sanctions and sanctions not authorised by the UN Security Council. On money, it backs the BRICS Payment Task Force's work on linking members' payment and messaging systems and on settling trade in local currencies, while noting that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. China will chair BRICS in 2027.

Our view

The declaration's main value is that it exists. The expanded group includes states on opposite sides of the West Asia conflict, and still they agreed on common language, with a phrase that let each keep its own position. For a forum often called too divided to act, this is a real result, and the credit belongs partly to Indian diplomacy.

The text also serves Indian interests. The line on keeping energy and trade flowing matters to a country that imports most of its oil. The payments paragraph is realistic: linking national systems, where India's UPI has something to offer, is more workable than a common BRICS currency, which India has never wanted.

India now has to manage what comes after. Its chairship passes to China, which carries the most economic weight in the group and could steer it towards an openly anti-Western stance. India's position should stay what it has been: BRICS as a forum of emerging economies that does not set itself against the West, kept alongside India's ties with the United States, Europe and the Quad.

The other side

• A consensus text among eleven very different states can only say what everyone accepts, so its language is mild and nothing in it can be enforced.
• The sharp language on sanctions may complicate India's trade talks with the United States, which has in the past threatened tariffs on countries it sees as backing BRICS moves away from the dollar.
• China's weight inside BRICS, and its rivalry with India, limit how far the group can serve Indian goals.

Using it in Mains

This fits GS Paper 2 (bilateral, regional and global groupings involving India). For BPSC, use it in the section on India and world affairs.

Q. The expanded BRICS is often called too divided to be effective. Assess its value for India in the light of the New Delhi Declaration, 2026.

• Agreement on West Asia among members on opposing sides.
• Opposition to unilateral and secondary sanctions, and India's energy security.
• Payment links and local currencies in place of a common currency.
• Managing China's weight as it takes the chair in 2027.
• Keywords: strategic autonomy, multi-alignment, Global South, multipolarity.

Sources: PIB, BRICS New Delhi Declaration, 12 September 2026; MEA, BRICS New Delhi Declaration