Leaders of the BRICS group of major emerging economies meet in New Delhi this weekend for the bloc's 18th summit, which runs through Sunday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs the meeting, joined by Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian, along with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. According to G1, one of Indian diplomacy's main goals is to secure a joint declaration by the end of the gathering.

The backdrop is a war now more than six months old. The United States and Israel have been fighting Iran, a BRICS member since 2024. According to a Reuters report published by Agência Brasil, the conflict has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's key oil chokepoints, and pushed crude above $100 a barrel. The war has also split the bloc itself: the United Arab Emirates, hit by Iranian missiles since the fighting began, suspended all commercial and financial transactions with Tehran in August.

For Brazil, a founding member of the group in 2006 alongside Russia, India and China, the summit brings an unusual position. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, campaigning for re-election in Brazil's October vote, is the only head of state from the original four staying home; Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira represents him, according to Folha de S.Paulo. The paper notes the reversal from last year, when Brazil, then the bloc's rotating president, hosted a summit the daily describes as hollow and Xi did not even attend. This weekend the turnout of leaders is stronger, and it is Brazil that attends at ministerial level.

What each country wants

Each member arrives with its own agenda. Xi, on his first visit to India in seven years, wants the enlarged bloc to stay cohesive; Putin's Russia, at odds with the West, backs Iran. Host India walks a fine line: it kept its ties with Moscow after the war in Ukraine began and maintains strategic relations with Tehran, while deepening its economic, military and technology partnership with the United States and Europe, as G1 reports. On Friday, Modi held separate meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian. South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto are also expected. The UAE sends the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Saudi Arabia, which never accepted full membership, is represented by Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged on Tuesday that the differences between the UAE and Iran have had a negative impact and make a joint declaration harder to draft, though he voiced hope that the leaders can find wording acceptable to both countries. For Michael Kugelman, a senior researcher at the Atlantic Council, the problem is structural.

"Some of the new BRICS members, like Iran, the UAE, Egypt and Ethiopia, are involved in tensions and disagree on many points. That is bad news for an entity that operates on consensus," Kugelman told Reuters. "There is an irony here: BRICS expansion reflects its growing appeal and prominence. But that same appeal, given the divergent views of the new members, can make the group less effective."

One precedent feeds the hosts' optimism. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held this month in Bishkek, Modi, Xi, Putin and Pezeshkian were among the leaders who signed a joint declaration condemning the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran and Western sanctions. "There was a significant advance in Bishkek. They managed to reach a formulation acceptable to all parties," said Rajiv Bhatia, a former Indian diplomat.

Dollars, tariffs and the search for cohesion

The economic agenda covers trade, investment, energy, food security, technology and supply chains, as well as reform of international institutions and a bigger voice for developing countries in global decisions, G1 reports. Also at stake is the drive to reduce dollar dependence, by widening the use of national currencies in payments among members and building alternatives to financial institutions traditionally led by the West. The bloc now gathers 11 countries and about half the world's population. Experts consulted by Reuters say the protectionism and unilateral tariffs of US President Donald Trump have given members an extra reason to band together. Xi is expected to travel to the United States later this month, and it is unclear whether he will speak with Putin in New Delhi before meeting Trump. Thousands of police officers have been mobilized in the Indian capital, which has imposed traffic restrictions until the summit ends.