NEW DELHI — Leaders of the expanded BRICS group are gathering in New Delhi for a summit that will place the organisation’s political ambitions against the realities of war and strategic rivalry. India is hosting the 18th summit on 12 and 13 September, according to the government’s Press Information Bureau, with 11 full members now represented in the grouping.

The Associated Press reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are among the leaders expected to attend. Their presence gives the meeting immediate weight, but it also exposes the problem the summit must manage: members want a stronger voice in global affairs while holding sharply different positions on Iran, Ukraine, trade and relations with the United States.

India is attempting to balance several relationships at once. New Delhi maintains close ties with Moscow while expanding strategic cooperation with Washington and Europe, and it also has consequential economic and security interests with China and the Gulf. India’s official BRICS theme is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, a formulation designed to keep development, finance and practical cooperation at the centre of the agenda.

That agenda is not separate from geopolitics. Energy flows, payment systems, supply chains and technology standards are all shaped by the conflicts that BRICS leaders will discuss. A declaration that avoids the hardest divisions may preserve consensus, but it may also show how far the bloc remains from acting as a single strategic force.

The summit therefore matters less as a test of whether BRICS can speak with one voice on every crisis than as a measure of what cooperation is still possible among countries seeking a larger role in global governance. New Delhi can convene the room. Whether the room can produce durable policy is the question.

*Reporting note: this article is based on the source record listed above and is current as of 11 September 2026. Figures and operational claims remain attributed where official or first-day reports can change.*