The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

India-hosted BRICS Summit Steers Clear of Contentious Moves

The Delhi Declaration made no mention of de-dollarization. But it did back trade in national currencies.

Leaders of BRICS member nations plant banyan tree saplings to mark the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, Sept 12, 2026.

The 18th BRICS summit hosted by India on September 12-13 criticized unilateral tariffs, sanctions, and protectionism in international trade, expressed support for multilateralism and multipolarity, and saw the airing of serious concern over rising tensions in West Asia.

The summit was being closely watched for several reasons. The first was whether the summit would produce a consensual joint statement. The second was curiosity over whether the BRICS members would collectively reject the dollar as the main currency of international trade. And third, to see what it could say about unilateral tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, especially since Brazil and India, two BRICS founding members, were slapped with the highest tariff rate of 50 percent last year before they were reduced.

This was the first summit that India was hosting since its expansion in 2024. The presence of leaders from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – countries caught in the war in West Asia – at the same table in New Delhi also raised the scrutiny levels.

The summit produced a consensus outcome document, the “New Delhi Declaration.” It was not expected to do so; a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in May ended without consensus, especially over words to describe the U.S. war on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent strikes on Gulf countries, including BRICS members. The Delhi Declaration expressed anguish over the situation in the Middle East without naming any of the parties – neither the U.S., Israel, Iran, nor any of the Gulf countries – involved in the conflict. It expressed “deep concern” over the “continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia” and called for “exercising maximum restraint” and “avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation.”

The statement supported a two-state solution to end Israel-Palestine tensions and called for the halt of the forced displacement of Palestinians. Comments on Palestine aren’t new for BRICS but acquire salience given the current situation in Gaza.

There was no mention of “de-dollarization” either, i.e., BRICS members reducing their reliance on the dollar for trade, financing, and as part of official reserves. Nor was there any reference to a BRICS common currency.

But BRICS did back intra-group commerce carried out in local currencies. This is not surprising given that Russia and Iran are under multiple layers of sanctions prohibiting trade in dollars or euros. Countries like India, which have been buying oil from Russia in the wake of the West Asia crisis, have been finding it difficult to pay for oil purchases.  The possibility that BRICS could sideline the dollar as an international trade currency has placed it in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.

BRICS has been seen as a counterweight to Western-led institutions and a platform for building an alternative international order, especially given the presence of countries like China and Russia. India, on its part, has made it clear that it is “non-West” but not “anti-West.” Participation in BRICS, as in the Australia-Japan-U.S.-India Quad forum, reinforces India’s multi-alignment strategy in an uncertain world.

At the summit’s opening, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointedly underlined that the grouping sought to move forward “not against anyone, but with an approach of taking everyone along.”

In New Delhi, BRICS reiterated its “commitment to strengthening multilateralism and multipolarity and to upholding international law” in the statement. The “proliferation of trade-restrictive actions” threatened global trade and disrupted global supply chains while introducing uncertainty into international economic and trade activities, it said. “We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” it added.

In his opening remarks, Modi said BRICS needed to chart out global reforms to secure a bigger voice for developing countries in global decision-making. The “pyramid of privilege” must be changed to a “platform of partnership,” he said.

“Ensuring equal participation in shaping the global rules of the future is of utmost importance. AI, cyberspace, outer space, biotechnology, and critical technologies are shaping not only the opportunities of the future, but also the rules that will govern the future,” Modi........

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