Wars, global crises may top agenda of 18th BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive here on Friday (September 11, 2026) morning to attend the 18th BRICS summit that will be held here this weekend, Russian sources said.

Mr. Putin is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours after his arrival, where the two sides are expected to discuss defence and other related matters. President Putin is among the top leaders of BRICS members and partner countries who are scheduled to arrive for the two-day summit.

Several heads of multilateral organisations, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, are also scheduled to attend the BRICS summit.

The External Affairs Ministry has confirmed that, apart from President Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are among the top leaders who are expected to reach Delhi for the summit that is being held against the backdrop of a global crisis in the supply chains of energy and agriculture because of wars in West Asia and Ukraine.

The conflict in West Asia that started in February, when Israel and the U.S. launched a joint attack on Iran, is likely to be among the top topics of the summit, especially as Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to be here. This will be the first visit to India by President Pezeshkian since he took charge after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in 2024.

Mr. Pezeshkian met Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, on August 31. That was the first meeting between the two leaders since the war began. The differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be keenly watched as the two sides have been exchanging tough messages because of the ongoing hostilities in the region. UAE will be represented by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ministry informed. The Gulf Cooperation Council, which is also in focus because of the hostilities in the Persian Gulf region, will be represented by Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Foreign Minister of Bahrain.

Among the founding members of BRICS — launched in 2009 with the first summit hosted by Russia — South Africa will be represented by Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil will be represented by Mauro Vieira. Among the founding members of BRICS, President Putin is the longest-serving leader.

Indonesia’s President Subianto, who was the Guest of Honour at the Republic Day parade here on January 26, 2025, is also scheduled to attend the BRICS summit. Among the ten partner countries of BRICS, the notable leaders will be Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Le Minh Hung. President of the Philippines Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, will attend the summit in his capacity as Chair of ASEAN and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will participate in the event in his capacity as President of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Apart from Mr. Guterres, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Dilma Rousseff, former President of Brazil, who will participate as the representative of the New Development Bank, will attend the summit. Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to participate in the summit, but Bangladesh will not be represented at the event, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir has confirmed.