BRICS Adopts New Delhi Declaration as Modi Meets Xi

BRICS leaders have adopted the New Delhi Declaration, calling for a bigger role for developing countries in global decision-making while pushing back against unilateral tariffs, sanctions and other measures that disrupt trade.

The declaration was the main outcome from the first day of the two-day BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Saturday. It also addressed the conflicts in West Asia, called for a ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, and backed stronger cooperation on trade, finance, health, technology and climate change.

The summit brings together leaders from the expanded 11-member grouping, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is attending as an invited member.

BRIC was formalised at the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in 2006. The inaugural BRIC Summit was convened in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. It was agreed to expand BRIC into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya in 2011.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE became full member of BRICS from January 2024 and Indonesia in January 2025. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam joined BRICS as Partner Countries in 2025.

This year, as outlined in a media release from India’s Press Information Bureau, the declaration reaffirmed BRICS’ commitment to a “more representative” and fairer international order, with developing countries given a greater say in institutions such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

It backed comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council. China and Russia also repeated their support for the aspirations of India and Brazil to play a greater role in the UN, including on the Security Council.

For host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the message was that countries of the Global South should no longer remain on the margins of decisions that affect them.

“Today, the Global South stands in the front row of global crises but in the back row of the decision-making process,” the Indian Prime Minister said.

He called for what he described as a “pyramid of privilege” to be turned into a “platform of partnership”, where every country had a voice and a stake.

Modi proposed that BRICS members develop 10 ideas for reforming global governance, which could be brought together as a BRICS Reform Roadmap by the group’s next summit.

“The Global South must move from being rule takers to rule shapers,” he said.

Modi also appeared keen to push back against the idea that BRICS is being built as an anti-Western bloc. He said the grouping was “not against anybody” and wanted to move forward with everyone.

That balancing act ran through much of the day.

Away from the formal speeches, the summit also produced a carefully choreographed display of unity. Modi was photographed standing between Xi and Putin, holding hands with both leaders as they smiled for the cameras. The image brought the three most powerful BRICS leaders together at a time when each has a complicated relationship with Washington.

The Trump question

United States President Donald Trump was not in Delhi and was not named in the declaration. His trade and foreign policies, however, formed an unmistakable backdrop to the meeting.

The declaration expressed “serious concern” about unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures that distort trade and break World Trade Organization rules. It said such measures could disrupt supply chains, reduce global trade and create further uncertainty for developing economies.

BRICS leaders also condemned unilateral economic and secondary sanctions that were not authorised by the UN Security Council.

The language did not single out Washington. But it came as Trump continued to use tariffs against both American rivals and allies, while warning BRICS countries against attempts to weaken the US dollar’s place in international trade.

As reported by the BBC ahead of the summit, Trump has previously threatened BRICS members with tariffs of up to 100 percent if they support a new currency intended to replace the dollar.

BRICS stopped short of proposing such a currency in Delhi. Instead, the declaration supported continued work on faster and cheaper cross-border payments, including trade settlements and investments using members’ local currencies. It also acknowledged that countries had different priorities and that there was no single approach that would work for everyone.

That cautious wording reflects a wider tension within the grouping. Russia and Iran have reasons to challenge US influence more directly, while India and some other members want to avoid turning BRICS into an openly anti-American platform.

Reaching agreement on the declaration was therefore an achievement for India. BRICS foreign ministers had failed to agree on a joint statement earlier this year amid differences over Iran and the wider conflict in West Asia.

From trade to terrorism

Beyond global governance, the declaration covered a wide range of issues.

It condemned the April 2025 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed, and called for action against the cross-border movement of terrorists, terror financing and safe havens. It also rejected double standards in dealing with terrorism.

On Gaza, BRICS leaders called for the ceasefire to be maintained and for full and unhindered humanitarian access. They opposed the forced displacement of Palestinians and reaffirmed support for an independent Palestinian state within the internationally recognised 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The declaration also expressed concern about the wider escalation in West Asia and called for restraint, dialogue and diplomacy. With both Iran and the UAE represented at the summit, language around the conflict had been one of the more difficult areas for negotiators.

There was more practical cooperation too. Members backed measures aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses access finance and participate in international trade. These included common principles for assessing credit applications from export-focused businesses and further study of an invoice discounting system that could help businesses unlock working capital.

The declaration also supported cooperation on digital health, mental health, tuberculosis, resilient supply chains, artificial intelligence and climate finance.

India’s BRICS chairship has been built around four priorities: resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability. Modi said more than 350 meetings had been held across nearly 30 Indian cities in an effort to connect the grouping’s work more closely with ordinary people.

Modi and Xi meet

Away from the main summit table, one of the most closely watched moments of the day was Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi was also given a red-carpet welcome on his first visit to India in seven years. His warm public interactions with Modi stood out after several years of strained relations following the deadly border clash in 2020. Alongside the photographs with Putin, the meeting helped India project a picture of the three BRICS powers drawing closer. But behind the smiles, difficult questions about the India-China border, trade and market access remained.

According to an official Indian government statement, the two leaders welcomed the progress made in bilateral relations since they last met in Tianjin in August 2025. They agreed that India and China should take a strategic and long-term view of their relationship and that differences should not be allowed to become disputes.

Modi said the relationship should be guided by three principles: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest.

But the border remained central to the discussion.

Modi told Xi that peace and tranquillity along the disputed border was essential for the relationship to continue improving. Both leaders committed themselves to pursuing what the statement described as a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question.

They also discussed cultural exchanges, direct links between people and businesses, and greater mobility between the two countries.

Trade remained another difficult area. The leaders acknowledged concerns about the structural imbalance in bilateral trade, supply-chain problems and the need for meaningful and predictable access to each other’s markets.

The meeting showed that ties are continuing to thaw after years of tension. It did not, however, suggest that the long-running border or trade disputes have been resolved.

China will take over the BRICS chairship in 2027. That gives both countries another reason to keep their relationship steady, even as they compete for influence within BRICS and across the wider Global South.

For India, Day 1 delivered the consensus declaration it wanted. It also showed the limits of that consensus.

BRICS could agree on the need to reform global institutions, give developing countries a stronger voice and resist economic pressure from powerful states. But it did so through careful language that avoided naming the United States or presenting the grouping as a direct challenge to the West.

The summit continues in New Delhi on Sunday.

-Asia Media Centre

Banner Image - BRICS leaders at the Summit in New Delhi on Saturday. Image Credits - BRICS official website