BRICS is “not against anyone” but focused on the development and prosperity of its members, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, as world leaders gathered in New Delhi for the grouping’s 18th summit.
Putin made the remarks at the BRICS Business Forum on Friday, part of a packed program of bilateral talks and discussions on trade, investment, energy, and global challenges, before the leaders’ meeting formally opened on Saturday.
“BRICS’ work is not directed against anyone,” Putin said. “It is aimed at only one common goal: the sustainable development and prosperity of our countries and peoples.”
Putin said the group seeks to unlock its members’ potential through “business diplomacy,” making it easier for companies and entrepreneurs to cooperate and invest.
He contrasted this with what he called the West’s “ugly forms” of competition, including unilateral “illegal restrictions” and secondary sanctions against countries “unwilling to follow others’ interests.”
Despite the tensions, Putin stressed that Moscow does not intend to retreat behind political blocs: “We are open to working with the whole world.”
Friday saw Putin hold a flurry of meetings with New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He also held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed cooperation in trade, energy, defense, space, and other sectors.
Friday’s whirlwind of diplomacy and Indian pageantry set the stage for two days of leaders’ talks. What began as a four-country forum has grown into an 11-member economic heavyweight with increasing global clout as geopolitical tensions mount and the Western-led international order comes under growing pressure.
RT reporters are on the ground in New Delhi covering the 18th BRICS Summit, which runs through Sunday.
Follow the latest developments from New Delhi below.
12 September 2026
Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has arrived at the summit.
On the sidelines, he met his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar to discuss trade and investment, high-level contacts, e-visas for Indian travelers and expanding direct air links.
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Vladimir Putin’s motorcade has arrived at the BRICS Summit venue in New Delhi, where he was greeted by Narendra Modi.
Footage shows Putin shaking hands with Modi as leaders gather for the summit’s main program.
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and BRICS Pay India have agreed to advance the bloc’s payment project and develop cross-border payment services.
The partners will explore integrating BRICS Pay with India’s payment infrastructure and launching pilot projects, as members seek to expand settlements in national currencies and link their financial systems.
RT takes a closer look at the project and what it could mean for trade within BRICS.
BRICS members have reached a consensus on a joint statement following negotiations which went on until 4:00 AM, sources say. The document is expected to be issued later on Saturday.
India led consultations to bridge differences on several contentious issues, including amid divergent positions among Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and heightened tensions in West Asia, the sources said.
Modi also met with his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, hailing the “new momentum” in the two countries’ strategic partnership.
Modi said cooperation is expanding into semiconductors, critical minerals, clean energy, and infrastructure, alongside growing defense ties and investment.
“Maritime neighbors, close partners and a friendship powered by our people,” Modi wrote on X.
Modi has met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Le Minh Hung, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
It is Le’s first BRICS Summit since taking office in April and Vietnam’s second as a partner country. The two sides have been expanding ties in trade, defense, technology, and critical minerals, with bilateral trade targeted at $25 billion by 2030.
One guest at the BRICS Summit appeared to be particularly thrilled to catch a glimpse of Vladimir Putin.
A video from New Delhi posted online shows a woman filming the Russian president as he walks past at the ITC Maurya hotel – before turning the camera on herself and beaming with delight.
Some reactions need no translation.
China wants relations with India approached from a “strategic height and long-term perspective,” the Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, said ahead of talks between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.
Xu called for greater communication and cooperation, proper handling of differences, and for the two countries to be “friends enjoying good-neighborliness and partners helping each other succeed.”
The meeting will be the third between Xi and Modi in as many years, following talks in Kazan and Tianjin.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu has met with her Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.
The meeting follows Pezeshkian’s talks with Modi on Friday, when the two discussed bilateral ties and the situation in West Asia. Modi called for dialogue and diplomacy, as well as safeguarding freedom of navigation and commerce.
Countries are increasingly seeking greater “financial sovereignty” as they move to reduce their dependence on centralized global payment infrastructure, BRICS Pay chief Andrey Mikhailishin told RT.
Mikhailishin said reliance on systems such as Visa and Mastercard leaves countries vulnerable to being cut off “by only one decision.”
Russia faced this in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, when the two Western payment giants suspended operations in the country, leaving Russian-issued cards unusable abroad and for purchases from foreign online stores. Domestic transactions continued through Russia’s own National Payment Card System. Mikhailishin said BRICS Pay aims to connect national payment networks across borders rather than replacing them.
BRICS members agree on strengthening national currencies and expanding their use in mutual trade, but remain divided over a single currency, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi.
“There are different opinions” within BRICS, Araghchi told reporters. “All members of the group believe that national currencies should be strengthened and trade between member states should be conducted in national currencies.”
A common BRICS currency, however, “is still under consideration,” he added.
Modi also welcomed Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for talks on the sidelines of the gathering.
The two discussed strengthening the India-UAE strategic partnership, including cooperation in trade, investment, technology, energy, and defense, as well as regional and global developments.
Khaled is leading the UAE delegation at the summit on behalf of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE joined BRICS as a full member in 2024.
Modi has met with Ethiopia’s Abiy on the sidelines of the summit as well, hailing his first visit to India as taking an “old friendship into new frontiers.”
In a post on X, Modi said the talks covered defense, investment, critical minerals, clean energy, healthcare, and capacity building, with the two sides pledging to work on strengthening India-Africa ties and “amplify the voice of the Global South.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has held separate meetings with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday and met with the host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hours later, ahead of Saturday’s main summit program.
Western efforts to isolate Russia have instead accelerated the shift of economic power toward BRICS and undermined the dollar’s global position, American journalist Tucker Carlson says.
Carlson told Afshin Rattansi’s Going Underground that cutting off Russia from the SWIFT financial system after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict gave other countries a powerful incentive to reduce reliance on the dollar.
“If we’re using the US dollar as a weapon of war, there’s no greater incentive for countries to de-dollarize,” he said. “That’s crazy. It’s self-destructive behavior.”
Carlson also argued that US, British, and German policies ultimately weakened the countries pursuing them. “This is self-harm we’re watching,” he said, adding that the effect has been “to dethrone the West” and “topple the American empire.”
This year’s gathering has particular significance – 20 years ago, in September 2006, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Known at the time as ‘BRIC’, the fledgling group was widely seen as a political experiment with an uncertain future.
Two decades later, it has expanded into an economic heavyweight with growing global influence. RT looks at how BRICS went from a four-country forum to a major force challenging the old global order.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in India for the BRICS Summit. His two-day visit is expected to include talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
No formal meeting between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled, although the two leaders could hold an informal conversation on the sidelines.
Relations between China and India have steadily improved since a breakthrough meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit in Kazan in 2024.
High-level contacts have resumed, progress has been made on managing their disputed border, direct flights have returned, and bilateral trade has reached record levels.
As the two leaders prepare to meet again at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, RT’s Marina Kosareva looks at how relations between the Asian powers have evolved.
BRICS can withstand external pressure and continue to expand because it offers countries of the Global South an alternative platform based on mutual respect rather than Western dominance, Indian MP Sujeet Kumar told RT.
Speaking on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the BJP lawmaker stressed that the group is “non-West, but it is not anti-West,” arguing that Washington’s perception of BRICS as anti-American is “its problem, not the problem of BRICS.”
Kumar said the group seeks greater representation for developing nations in global institutions, arguing that the existing governance architecture no longer reflects the economic and demographic realities. He cited growing BRICS membership and interest from other countries as evidence of demand for greater economic resilience, diversified supply chains, and a stronger voice for the Global South.
As BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi, India is seeking to position itself as a diplomatic bridge in an increasingly polarized world. New Delhi has maintained ties with opposing sides in major conflicts, resisted Western pressure over Russian oil, and repeatedly called for dialogue rather than military solutions.
RT looks at how India’s ‘diplomacy-first’ approach has shaped its response to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East – and what it could mean for the BRICS Summit.