Signal BRICS Summit 2026: 18th Summit Adopts New Delhi Declaration

Summary

The 18th BRICS summit convened in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026, bringing together leaders of the bloc's 11 member states, including China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and India's Narendra Modi. Leaders unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, which called for maximum restraint in the Middle East while stopping short of condemning US-Israeli strikes or Iran's actions against Gulf states, and voiced concern over attacks on IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities. On Ukraine, the declaration used generic language urging dialogue and diplomacy without naming the country, while explicitly criticizing unilateral sanctions not authorized by the UN Security Council as unlawful. On trade, the bloc opposed unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures distorting global trade without directly naming the United States. Modi urged the Global South to shift from being a 'rule-taker' to a 'rule-shaper' in global governance. The declaration further expressed firm opposition to forced displacement of Palestinians and called for Palestine's full UN membership under a two-state framework based on 1967 borders. A cross-source (Eurasia Review, published September 14) additionally reported that the summit achieved a notable institutional advance on payment infrastructure and a verified diplomatic reset between India and China, alongside continued emphasis on African industrialization and AfCFTA-related infrastructure investment. BRICS' 11 members together account for roughly 40% of global GDP and nearly half the world's population.