All eyes will be on New Delhi this weekend, as the presidents of Iran, Russia and China gather in India for the 18th BRICS summit. The meeting comes at a critical time as conflicts roil the Middle East and Europe, putting the bloc to one of its biggest tests since its founding 20 years ago.
The Sept. 12-13 summit comes more than six months after the Middle East war broke out between the U.S. and Iran, and at a time when regional tensions are again spiking. It follows the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit earlier this month, where several of the same leaders met.
The BRICS alliance was established in 2006 by founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, and has since expanded to include nations such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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At the forefront are Iran-India relations, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to highlight trade, connectivity, energy cooperation and regional developments. The two leaders are meeting less than two weeks after reaffirming their "longstanding" strategic partnership.
In the face of an economic onslaught from Washington, Tehran has been working to deepen ties with Moscow and Beijing. In its latest attempt at securing a critical economic lifeline, Iran is seeking membership in the BRICS New Development Bank. The effort comes as many of Iran's largest remaining economic partners, including China, India, Russia and the UAE, will all be represented in New Delhi, giving Tehran a rare opportunity to engage several key trading partners collectively, just as the U.S. ramps up sanctions pressure.
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Also in focus is China. President Xi Jinping will be visiting India for the first time in seven years. The high-stakes trip marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between India and China after a deadly military clash in 2020 along their disputed Himalayan border. A bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi is expected to focus on maintaining that normalization while expanding economic engagement, making it one of the summit's most closely watched sidelines meetings.
Then there is Russia. President Vladimir Putin met Modi on Friday in a pre-summit bilateral meeting. It marks Putin's first trip to India since the Ukraine war began four years ago.
Energy and defense are expected to dominate the agenda after the Russian president criticized American tariffs as "illegal" and "unacceptable."
Just earlier this week, the Kremlin touted expanding energy ties, saying India's imports of Russian energy have reached a "new record" every month. Moscow has also said Russia understands India's position on the war in Ukraine and that it "to a great extent corresponds" with Russia's own position, while calling on India to facilitate a peaceful resolution.
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The meeting also comes days after Putin publicly welcomed the UAE’s role in facilitating discussions over the Ukraine war, highlighting Abu Dhabi's increasingly influential diplomatic role as another major BRICS participant.
Saudi Arabia will also be watched after Iran-backed Houthi militia renewed attacks on its cities earlier this week.
Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have become increasingly central to India's Gulf strategy. The summit also comes as New Delhi attempts to navigate widening divisions between Tehran and Abu Dhabi after the UAE cut off commercial and financial dealings with Iran. The suspension has already squeezed Indian exporters, as Dubai has long served as a key commercial hub for India's trade with Iran, giving India a direct economic incentive.
The BRICS summit will be a major test of India's diplomatic mettle in more ways than one, as the nation finds itself balancing competing interests from Washington, Tehran, Moscow, Beijing and the Gulf while trying to forge unity among BRICS members.
"New Delhi’s leadership of BRICS is ultimately an exercise in managing contradiction. The biggest challenge is to ensure BRICS remains a platform for advancing Global South priorities rather than becoming an arena for great-power rivalry, Harsh V. Pant, vice president at Observer Research Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "New Delhi is trying to keep the focus on practical cooperation — from energy security to connectivity and development — rather than ideological confrontation."
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Building a unified position among BRICS members will be a complex task for India, especially given the sharp geopolitical divergences among member states, such as the U.S-China rivalry, the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions involving Iran, Israel and the UAE. Modi will have to balance championing his own priorities with the summit's, as well as toeing the line to avoid an anti-U.S. tilt.
"The balancing act reflects India's broader foreign policy, which seeks to maintain strong ties with Washington while continuing to engage Moscow, Beijing and Tehran," Pant said.
Throughout the conflict, India has sought to position itself as a voice for dialogue while avoiding taking sides, emphasizing themes of resilience, sustainability, cooperation and innovation.
But experts warn that failure to reach consensus would expose the limits of the expanded BRICS grouping, whose broader membership has also imported longstanding regional rivalries.
Though major Western powers are absent, analysts say the alliance is not to be dismissed. Every ceasefire in this conflict has involved mediation by BRICS members or partners, and leaders gathering in New Delhi are expected to explore whether the forum can once again provide diplomatic momentum after recent attempts to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran stalled.
"Hosting the BRICS summit in New Delhi offers India an important opportunity to demonstrate the logic of its multi-alignment at a time when global politics is becoming increasingly polarized, "Pant said. "By bringing together countries such as China, Russia, Iran and the Gulf states while simultaneously deepening its partnerships with the United States and the Quad, India is signaling that it does not accept the binary choices imposed by great-power rivalry."
The stakes extend beyond diplomacy as disruptions from the war have disproportionately affected developing nations. India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, has already suffered energy and inflation hits.
"The real measure of India’s success will therefore be its ability to keep BRICS sufficiently inclusive and functional to address Global South priorities while preventing geopolitical divisions from paralyzing the grouping," Pant said.
