Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to India said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman skipped the BRICS Summit in India due to “certain context and circumstances,” while discussing Bangladesh’s engagement with regional multilateral platforms.
The India-hosted BRICS summit is expected to focus on UPI-based cross-border payments, intra-BRICS trade expansion, and reduced reliance on the US dollar and SWIFT.
India is proposing to connect BRICS central bank digital currencies to improve cross-border payments, but the initiative faces technical and geopolitical hurdles.
As India assumes the BRICS chairship for the fourth time, the BRICS India 2026 logo and summit theme are explained, with symbolism drawn from the lotus, petals and the ‘Namaste’ greeting.
Congress leader P. Chidambaram questioned the benefits of India’s participation in BRICS, SCO, G20 and QUAD, while BJP spokesperson RP Singh responded with trade, investment, energy and financial cooperation data ahead of the 18th BRICS Leaders Summit in New Delhi.
BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Sameep Shastri said India should strengthen exports and deepen intra-BRICS trade cooperation as high energy imports have created trade deficits with most BRICS nations.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed the idea of a BRICS Development Bank during India’s 2012 summit hosting, which later contributed to the establishment of the New Development Bank.
Iranian BRICS Women Business Alliance delegation says it seeks support from India and BRICS partners to build a framework for women-led companies and start-ups.
BRICS has expanded to 11 full members, and India will chair the grouping in 2026 and host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
