BRICS leaders meet in India as wars, trade tensions test bloc’s unity

BRICS leaders meet in New Delhi today as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, US-China tensions and global trade turbulence test the bloc’s ability to act together. The two-day summit is expected to focus on conflicts, trade and oil.
The 18th BRICS Summit host India will seek to balance its ties with China and Russia against its growing partnerships with the United States and other Western powers.
The presidents of Russia and Iran were in India for talks on Friday, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to arrive today for the summit, which ends tomorrow.

Modi, Putin reaffirm strategic ties
India said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to further strengthen the special relationship between their countries in talks that ranged over areas including energy and defence.
New Delhi is engaged in a diplomatic balancing act as it tries to maintain strong ties with the U.S., Gulf Arab states, Russia, Iran and Israel, while suffering the impact of shipping and trade disruptions due to the Ukraine and Iran wars.
The meeting was the second in two weeks between the two leaders. 
Modi and Putin “shared perspectives on ... the conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region which have impacted maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers”, a statement from India’s foreign ministry said.
Modi reiterated that conflicts should be resolved by dialogue and diplomacy and that India stood ready to assist in peace efforts, it added.
“The two leaders agreed to remain engaged in an effort to strengthen further the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries,” the foreign ministry statement said.

India’s Russian oil ties remain strong
India, along with China, is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, which is seen as helping Moscow replenish its budget since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and was hit with sweeping Western sanctions.
New Delhi has also said that the Ukraine conflict can be resolved only through dialogue and diplomacy and not by some countries stopping energy, metal or fertiliser trade with Russia.
Russia’s share of Indian crude imports rose in 2026, reaching a record 51% in July, as disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies increased Indian refiners’ reliance on Russian oil. That share likely moderated in August as China stepped up Russian oil purchases, Indian media reported.
The two leaders also visited an India-Russia industrial fair showcasing Russian technology, AI, aviation, space, nuclear science, heavy engineering, mining and banking companies.
India and Russia have said they want to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030 from nearly $70 billion in 2024-25.

Modi, Iran’s Pezeshkian stress safe navigation
In talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday Narendra Modi underscored the need to protect the freedom of navigation and commerce, and the safety and well-being of seafarers, India’s foreign ministry said.
He also emphasised the need for continued efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region, the ministry said in a statement.
Before holding the bilateral talk, Pezeshkian said that pressure on his country from the United States had reached a critical and dangerous stage.
Pezeshkian suggested that “the world today is going through a period of unprecedented complexity”, adding the use of economic levers of pressure only served to exacerbate that.
“Iran has been subjected to heavy sanctions in recent years; this pressure has reached a critical and dangerous stage in recent months following the military aggression by the United States and Israel,” he said.
“When a country is subjected to political and military pressure on its trade, energy, infrastructure and financial system, the repercussions extend beyond its borders,” Pezeshkian said.
The Iranian president is on his first official visit to India.

BRICS seeks greater say in global financial institutions
Finance ministers and central bank governors of BRICS countries have called for reform of global developmental financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, seeking a stronger voice for emerging market economies.
“With the growing share of emerging market and developing economies in global output and growth, reform of global economic governance remains a consistent BRICS priority,” finance chiefs of BRICS countries said in a joint statement issued late on Thursday.
“We will continue to strengthen coordination among BRICS members to make international financial institutions more representative, transparent and accountable,” they said.

Xi’s visit puts India-China ties in focus
Xi’s arrival will mark the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Tibetan border.
Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming again, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored.
“China stands ready to work with India... by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences,” Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday, AFP reported.
Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.
Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday—exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959—waving placards against Xi’s visit.
“One should engage in debate and friendship only with the virtuous, and nothing whatsoever with the unvirtuous,” Modi wrote Friday, in a social media message in Sanskrit to welcome leaders to the 11-nation summit.