Doha, Qatar: The 18th BRICS Summit will take place in New Delhi Saturday, amid high expectations surrounding the future of cooperation among Global South economies.
The two-day summit will be held under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," which India selected for its 2026 rotating presidency of the group.
Leaders of member states and partner countries, along with other invited guests, are expected to participate in the summit, reflecting India's desire to broaden the scope of dialogue beyond the group's formal membership.
According to press reports in New Delhi, the summit's agenda will not be limited to economic and financial issues, but will also include discussions on reforming global governance institutions to give developing countries a greater voice, as well as counterterrorism, digital transformation, the transition to clean energy and sustainable development. Participants will also exchange views on the most prominent current regional and international issues.
More than 350 high-level meetings and events have been held in over 25 Indian cities this year in preparation for the summit, covering three main tracks: political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
The summit comes at a time when BRICS is facing renewed questions over its cohesion as a unified bloc, given the divergent economic and political interests of its geographically and ideologically diverse members. Nevertheless, supporters of the group view it as a gradually emerging alternative to the traditional centers of power in the global economy, while critics question its ability to translate its considerable demographic and economic weight into unified and effective political and economic positions.
The 18th BRICS Summit carries additional symbolic significance as it takes place in the year marking the 20th anniversary of the group's establishment. Its first summit was held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in 2009, after the concept emerged as a coordination framework in 2006. This is also the fourth time India has held the group's presidency, having previously hosted BRICS summits in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
BRICS is no longer the five-member bloc it was known for years (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). It now comprises 11 member states following the accession of Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to a broad network of partner countries and countries invited for dialogue. This makes the summit a platform representing a broad segment of Global South economies and emerging countries.
Professor of International Economics and Financial Risk Management at Jordan's Al Al-Bayt University Dr. Omar Khalif Al Gharaibeh told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the significance of BRICS was no longer confined to the size of its members' economies, but had expanded to include its ability to build a more diversified and sustainable economic and financial network among countries of the Global South. He noted that the group currently comprises 11 countries and represents around half of the world's population and nearly one-third of global output, according to widely cited estimates.
He expected the agenda of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi to focus on trade, finance, energy, technology and supply chains, reflecting the group's growing maturity in shifting from political dialogue toward institutionalized economic action.
Al Gharaibeh added that, for emerging markets in general, the potential impact of successive BRICS summits lies in broadening sources of financing, trade and investment and reducing dependence on a limited number of markets, currencies and international funding sources.
He said this was particularly important at a time characterized by heightened geopolitical risks, disruptions to supply chains and elevated global financing costs, as these markets shift from being recipients to becoming active players capable of diversifying their partnerships and strengthening their resilience to external shocks.
Regarding BRICS' international significance, Dr. Al Gharaibeh believes that the group's successive summits and geographic expansion have indeed strengthened its political and economic weight. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the group starting in 2024, while Indonesia became a full member in 2025, bringing the total number of members to 11.
This expansion was not merely numerical, but added major energy, trade and financial hubs, as well as strategic logistics corridors in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, strengthening the group's negotiating leverage. At the same time, however, it has increased the challenge of aligning the interests and political positions of members that have become increasingly diverse in their orientations and national interests.
Dr. Al Gharaibeh added that the sectors likely to benefit most from cooperation among BRICS countries in the coming period are energy, strategic minerals, industry, technology, the digital economy, infrastructure and financial services. Energy cooperation could create a broader network of producers and consumers, while cooperation in critical minerals is gaining exceptional importance because of their role in electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, renewable energy and defense industries.
Brazil, for example, is currently developing a broader framework for the extraction and processing of strategic minerals and rare earth elements at a time when major economies are seeking to diversify their sources of these vital materials. Cooperation on digital payments and local currencies could also reduce the cost of cross-border trade, as BRICS countries are already discussing the possibility of linking instant payment systems and central bank digital currencies.
On the role of BRICS in supporting global supply chains, particularly in energy and strategic minerals, he expressed his belief that BRICS could evolve from merely a grouping of emerging countries into one of the most important centers for reshaping these supply chains.
The group brings together countries with energy resources, others with vast industrial bases, and still others with significant reserves and potential in strategic minerals and raw materials, in addition to enormous consumer markets.
The integration of these capabilities could therefore reduce the risks associated with dependence on a single source of materials and energy, particularly in light of the crises that have affected global trade routes. More importantly, the 2026 BRICS agenda focuses on the resilience of global value chains, digital trade, finance, energy and critical minerals, clearly indicating that the group is gradually shifting from political coordination toward practical economic cooperation based on tangible projects.
Dr. Al Gharaibeh added that the greatest risk facing BRICS may come from within rather than from outside the group. Its members vary considerably in economic size, growth, and income levels and have divergent political and strategic interests. In some cases, there is even direct competition between members, as is the case with China and India.
The growing number of members also makes it more difficult to reach a unified consensus, particularly on sensitive issues such as currency, trade policy, relations with the United States and Europe, and international sanctions.
For this reason, he added, talk of a unified BRICS currency replacing the US dollar remains premature. A more realistic approach in the near term would be to expand the use of local currencies, link payment systems, develop joint financing instruments and strengthen the role of the New Development Bank. In this context, financial cooperation stands out as more feasible at present than a unified currency project, as it gives members greater flexibility and avoids complex political and economic obstacles.
Concluding his remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dr. Al Gharaibeh affirmed that BRICS today stands before a historic opportunity, but is not yet a fully developed economic power. Rather, it is an ambitious project aimed at redistributing economic weight in the global economy.
If the group succeeds in translating its demographic and economic weight into greater intra-BRICS trade, joint financing, more efficient payments and tangible investments in energy, minerals, technology and infrastructure, its influence will extend beyond its member states to reach most emerging markets.
However, if its summits remain confined to political statements without implementation mechanisms and joint projects, BRICS' scale will continue to exceed its institutional capacity.
The real test for BRICS in the coming period, therefore, is not how many countries will join it, but what those countries will build together. Economic power in the 21st century is measured not only by the size of economic output, but also by the ability to influence finance, energy, technology, minerals and supply chains. This is what will shape the role of BRICS in the emerging global order.
