BRICS Summit 2026: India sets agenda on trade, AI, payments and economic resilience

The BRICS Business Forum kicked off in Delhi on Friday, setting the stage for the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12–13, 2026. Business leaders, ministers and heads of state from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and partner countries are gathering to shape the grouping’s economic agenda under India’s chairship, themed “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”

Jai Shroff, Chair of the BRICS Business Council, opened the forum by framing BRICS as more than a club of big economies. “We should not look at BRICS as a group of large markets but as an economic network where our strengths can reinforce one another,” Shroff said.