Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 13 September 2026, declared that the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi had reinforced the bloc's identity as an 'ecosystem of solutions', calling on member and partner nations to translate commitments into time-bound, measurable action. The summit, held over two days at Bharat Mandapam, culminated in the unanimous adoption of the New Delhi Declaration.

Modi's Concluding Remarks

Delivering his closing address at the summit session on 'Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', Prime Minister Modi underscored the need to move beyond documentation. “BRICS is not merely a grouping of nations, but an ecosystem of solutions. We hope that the New Delhi Declaration adopted at this summit will provide a clear direction for our shared vision and future cooperation. We must translate all outcomes into time-bound actions and last-mile impact,” he said.

Modi credited the active participation of BRICS leaders for adding “prevalence and depth” to the grouping’s cooperative framework. He said the breadth of global representation at the summit reflected BRICS’s growing relevance, openness, and inclusiveness on the world stage.

New Delhi Declaration Adopted

On the first day of the summit, leaders of BRICS member countries unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, setting a shared agenda for the bloc’s next phase. The declaration is expected to guide cooperation across areas including trade, technology, health, and climate resilience. The visiting heads of state also attended a gala dinner hosted by PM Modi at Bharat Mandapam on Saturday evening.

Leaders and Representation

The summit brought together a sweeping array of global leaders for a group photograph on Sunday morning. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and World Health Organisation (WHO) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres were among those who posed for the family photo at Bharat Mandapam.

BRICS currently comprises 11 member states: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. An additional 10 partner countries — Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam — also participate in the grouping’s framework.

BRICS Enters Its Third Decade

Modi noted that BRICS is “poised to enter its third decade”, signalling that the world now demands concrete results rather than aspirational commitments. “I am confident that through our collective efforts, we will certainly live up to these expectations,” he said, extending best wishes to China as the next host of BRICS.

This is the first time India has held the BRICS chair since the grouping’s significant expansion in 2023–2024, making the New Delhi summit a milestone for India’s multilateral ambitions. The summit’s emphasis on ‘last-mile impact’ signals a deliberate shift in tone from earlier BRICS gatherings, which were often criticised for producing verbose declarations without enforcement mechanisms.

What Comes Next

With the New Delhi Declaration now in place, attention turns to whether working groups under each BRICS pillar will set verifiable deadlines and accountability benchmarks. China takes over as BRICS chair next and will host the 19th BRICS Summit, where progress on the New Delhi commitments will face its first external audit. India’s presidency will be judged by how many of those time-bound actions reach implementation before the baton is formally passed.