Diplomacy moved from the summit table to the parliamentary floor on Monday, 26 October 2026, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat down with legislators from across the BRICS nations for a wide-ranging exchange at the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum being held in New Delhi.

Modi described the meeting as a 'wonderful interaction,' saying the group 'exchanged perspectives on a wide range of issues' — the kind of frank, cross-border conversation that formal summits rarely allow. Parliamentarians, after all, carry the texture of domestic politics into the room: their questions cut closer to the ground.

Why Delhi is hosting BRICS legislators in 2026

BRICS — the intergovernmental grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, built around the idea of a multipolar international order — has long operated on two parallel tracks: executive-level leaders' summits and parliamentary forums that keep legislators in the loop between those headline meetings. India has been a consistent host of both formats, having anchored BRICS Summits in Delhi in 2012 and Goa in 2016.

The parliamentary forum matters because it is where shared priorities — global governance reform, development finance, trade architecture — get road-tested by people who must eventually turn them into legislation or budget lines at home. A prime minister walking into that room signals that the executive wants those conversations to land, not merely be logged.

Modi's pattern of direct parliamentary engagement

India's approach to multilateral diplomacy has increasingly combined high-level bilateral meetings with broader, more informal formats that reach legislators, civil society, and business communities. By engaging directly with BRICS MPs rather than leaving that to protocol officials, Prime Minister Modi reinforces India's positioning as a convening power — a country that does not just attend multilateral tables but actively shapes the agenda around them.

The 12th Forum comes at a moment when the BRICS grouping has been navigating questions about its expanded membership, reform of global financial institutions, and the role of emerging economies in setting the terms of a post-unipolar order. Parliamentary-level dialogue adds a layer of legitimacy and continuity that no single summit can provide.

Whether Monday's exchange of perspectives translates into joint parliamentary statements or feeds into the next BRICS leaders' summit agenda will be the real measure of the forum's weight — but the Prime Minister's presence in that room made clear that New Delhi is not treating this as a ceremonial side event.