Modi says Brics "represent 50% of the world's population" at New Delhi summit

In September 2026, Narendra Modi spoke to fellow leaders at a two-day Brics meeting in New Delhi as the 11-nation group confronted wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, trade strains and energy worries. Chinese President Xi Jinping came for his first visit to India since 2019, part of a gradual improvement in relations after a fatal border confrontation in 2020; the Himalayan border disagreement and large troop deployments remain unresolved. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also participated. Modi used his address to describe the bloc's global standing. The summit tested whether Brics could overcome internal splits, including over the Gulf conflict; a May gathering of its foreign ministers ended without a shared statement.