18th BRICS Summit ends in New Delhi with declaration adopted

The brief

Context

The 18th BRICS Summit was hosted by India in New Delhi, concluding on September 13, with the New Delhi Declaration adopted a day earlier on September 12. Held under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability" and marking BRICS' 20th year, the summit came against a backdrop of tariffs, trade tensions and geopolitical fragmentation. BRICS now has eleven members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE — after expansion in 2024 and Indonesia's entry in January 2025. The 45-page, 140-paragraph declaration was described as cooperative rather than confrontational, and notably avoided Ukraine and the idea of a common BRICS currency.

Key facts

• The 18th BRICS Summit concluded on September 13 in New Delhi; the New Delhi Declaration was adopted on September 12.
• The declaration runs to 45 pages and 140 paragraphs, covering trade, health, artificial intelligence and tourism.
• PM Narendra Modi proposed a 'Seafarers' Emergency Support Network'; India provides over 12% of all trained seafarers worldwide.
• Four new agriculture initiatives were announced, including Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience and Productivity, Digital Agriculture and the non-binding, farmer-centric BRICS AGRIN network.
• Bengaluru's NIMHANS will be the coordinating centre for a BRICS network of training hubs and centres of excellence for mental health.
• Para 22 of the declaration condemns 'unilateral coercive measures', unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, and backs WTO reform.
• Leaders condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025 in which 26 people were killed and many more injured.
• China and Russia reiterated support for the aspirations of Brazil and India to play a greater role in the UN, including the Security Council.

Timeline

1. 2006BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) formed after a Goldman Sachs projection identified them as future engines of global growth.
2. 2009First BRIC Leaders' Summit held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, evolving from a foreign ministers' dialogue.
3. 2010South Africa joins; BRIC becomes BRICS.
4. 2024Major expansion: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE join.
5. January 2025Indonesia becomes the 11th full member of BRICS.
6. 22 April 2025Terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir kills 26 people; later condemned in the New Delhi Declaration.
7. 2025 (Rio)Rio declaration recalled 'national positions concerning the conflict in Ukraine'; terrorism language similar to Delhi's.
8. Month before summit13th BRICS Education Ministers' meeting held in Bhubaneshwar; its outcomes welcomed in the declaration.
9. September 12New Delhi Declaration adopted.
10. September 1318th BRICS Summit concludes in New Delhi.

Who has a stake

• India (host and chair) — Shaped the agenda with the Seafarers' Network, Continuity and Implementation Mechanism, NIMHANS coordination and the India Centre for BRICS Industrial Competencies.
• Russia — Avoided any mention of Ukraine, its invasion or related sanctions in the 45-page declaration.
• China and Russia (UNSC permanent members) — Reiterated support for Brazil and India's aspirations for a greater role in the UN Security Council.
• Indian seafarers and their families — India supplies over 12% of the world's trained seafarers; the proposed emergency network targets their safety at sea.
• NIMHANS, Bengaluru — Named coordinating centre for BRICS mental-health centres of excellence and training hubs.
• WTO and the multilateral trading system — BRICS backed WTO reform and a non-discriminatory, rules-based system with the WTO at its core.
• US and EU (implicitly) — Targets of BRICS criticism of unilateral sanctions, tariff escalation and carbon border adjustment mechanisms.
• Farmers in BRICS countries — AGRIN network, Global Forum on Farmers' Rights in Seed Systems and digital/regenerative agriculture initiatives.

Why it matters

As chair, India used the summit to convert BRICS from a rhetorical bloc into a delivery-focused one — a Continuity and Implementation Mechanism through the Troika, an Indian institution (NIMHANS) as a nodal centre, and sectoral networks in agriculture, space and skills. At the same time, the silences are telling: no Ukraine, no common currency, only incremental local-currency trade settlement, showing the limits of consensus in an eleven-member grouping. The declaration's stance against unilateral sanctions, tariffs and CBAM signals how emerging economies are positioning themselves in a fragmenting trade order.