BRICS Summit in New Delhi today: Key leaders, agenda and what’s in store on Day 1
BRICS Summit today: The first day of BRICS events will begin at 2 PM at Bharat Mandapam. Apart from the BRICS main events, PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with global leaders at Hyderabad House from 10 AM on wards.
BRICS Summit today: The stage is all set for BRICS Summit 2026 to kickstart in the national capital today, 12 September.
The two-day summit is being held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
India is the BRICS Chair for the 2026 edition.
Quick answers to key questions
The theme of the BRICS Summit 2026 is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
Bilateral meetings at the BRICS Summit are scheduled to occur at Hyderabad House, with PM Modi meeting leaders from various member countries throughout the day.
India's role as BRICS Chair is significant as it seeks to build consensus among member states that have competing geopolitical interests, especially during heightened tensions from the US-Iran war.
In their closed-door session, BRICS leaders will discuss inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism.
The BRICS Summit 2026 will take place on September 12-13 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are among the global leaders attending the summit.
PM Modi had already had bilateral meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the summit. Modi is meeting Chinese president Xi Jinping today evening.
Here’s what Day 1 has in store:
The first day of BRICS events will begin at 2 PM at Bharat Mandapam. Apart from the BRICS main events, PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with global leaders at Hyderabad House from 10 AM on wards.
Closed-door session: BRICS leaders will discuss inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism at Bharat Mandapam.
Key bilaterals: PM Modi is scheduled to meet China’s Xi Jinping, UAE’s Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed Ali, Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim and Vietnam’s Le Minh Hung.
Bharat Innovates: BRICS leaders will visit the exhibition showcasing India’s innovation and technology capabilities.
Tree-planting ceremony: BRICS leaders will participate in a joint ceremonial tree-planting event.
Gala dinner: PM Modi will host BRICS leaders at a dinner to mark the summit.
So the events are basically divided into two – BRICS events and bilaterals. Here is complete itinerary for the day:
BRICS Events: Day 1, Saturday
2 PM: Arrival of BRICS Leaders (BRICS Member Countries)
Venue: Level 2, Bharat Mandapam
2:35 PM: Closed Session for BRICS Member Countries: “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism”
Venue: Summit Hall, Level 2, Bharat Mandapam
4:25 PM: Witnessing “Bharat Innovates Exhibition (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)
Venue: Hall 14, Bharat Mandapam
5:05 PM: Family Photo (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)
Venue: Outside Lawns, Bharat Mandapam
5:10 PM: Joint Tree Plantation (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)
Venue: Outside Lawns, Bharat Mandapam
7:30 PM: Gala Dinner hosted by the Prime Minister
Venue: Level 3, Bharat Mandapam
Bilateral Meetings, Saturday
10 AM: PM Modi meets Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Venue: Hyderabad House
10:30 AM: PM Modi meets Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia
Venue: Hyderabad House
11 AM: PM Modi meets Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
Venue: Hyderabad House
11:30 AM: PM Modi meets Le Minh Hung, Prime Minister of Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Venue: Hyderabad House
11:30 AM: President’s Meeting with Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Venue: Rashtrapati Bhavan
5:45 PM: PM Modi meets Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Venue: Bharat Mandapam
India is BRICS Chair for 2026 edition
Initially established as the BRIC alliance comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which convened its first Foreign Ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006 and held its inaugural summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009, the group expanded to BRICS following South Africa's admission in 2011.
The grouping has since undergone a transformative expansion, welcoming Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE as full members in January 2024, followed by Indonesia in January 2025.
Today, featuring 11 full member states alongside an expanding array of partner nations, the alliance commands significant global economic and diplomatic influence.
US-Iran War Shadow
The BRICS Summit comes at a challenging moment for India, as the grouping navigates the fallout from the US-Iran war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.
For New Delhi, the immediate challenge will be to strike a delicate diplomatic balance. The expanded BRICS includes Iran as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, countries with differing interests and positions on the regional conflict.
At the same time, India maintains important strategic and economic relationships with the United States and the Gulf countries. That makes New Delhi's role as BRICS chair particularly significant as it seeks to build consensus among members with competing geopolitical interests.
Under these circumstances, India faces a significant diplomatic test in forging consensus at the upcoming BRICS Summit, according to Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
The gathering, Pant argued, occurs at a critical juncture for the international community, and as such, India has a central role to play in steering the platform toward practical solutions for the Global South.
“Fragmentation is growing, and great powers are at loggerheads with each other. Wars are raging across the world from the Middle East to Europe, with no end in sight,” Pant told news agency ANI.
About the Author
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.<br><br> Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.<br><br> Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.<br><br> Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.<br><br> Jeelani is a Bachelor's in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
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