India aced the BRICS Summit. The harder part begins now

Source: ThePrint | Original Published At: 2026-09-18 04:34:24 UTC

Key Points

• India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit, which adopted the 140-paragraph New Delhi Declaration, described as the longest declaration in BRICS history.
• The summit included leaders from expanded BRICS members such as Iran and the United Arab Emirates and sought a common minimum agenda for the Global South.
• India emphasized multilateralism and a “Humanity First” approach, steering BRICS away from an explicitly anti-West orientation.
• The New Delhi Declaration used calibrated language on the West Asia and Russia-Ukraine conflicts to avoid splitting the expanded membership.
• The article says BRICS still lacks clarity, determination and speed in implementing objectives such as trade, investment, payments cooperation and global institutional reform.
• India’s next challenge is to institutionalize summit outcomes and prevent BRICS from becoming China-dominated or an anti-US forum.