BRICS Delhi Summit Sept 12-13 — Xi Jinping’s...

CURRENT AFFAIRS | 20 MAY 2026

India will host the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on September 12-13, 2026. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to attend — for Xi, this would be the first India visit since the Mamallapuram informal summit of October 2019, before the Galwan clashes of April-May 2020 froze ties. The Kremlin has formally confirmed Putin’s travel. PM Modi is also expected at the SCO Summit in Bishkek on August 31-September 1, 2026, making it a busy diplomatic month. The Delhi BRICS will be the first under the expanded BRICS+ format that absorbed Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE in January 2024.

Background — Why Xi’s Visit Matters

The India-China relationship has been in slow thaw since the October 2024 disengagement at Demchok and Depsang, announced just before the Kazan BRICS Summit. EAM S Jaishankar met Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on May 18, 2026 — the immediate ground-laying for Xi’s Delhi trip. Direct flights are resuming, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra reopened in 2025, and visa restrictions are easing. The Delhi Summit also gives Modi an opportunity to assert leadership of the expanded “Global South” coalition, with new members Iran, UAE, Ethiopia and Egypt — and to push the New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS multilateral bank headquartered in Shanghai.

Why It Matters for CLAT

BRICS questions are an evergreen Current Affairs + IR section. Likely test items: (i) the meaning of BRICS+ and the 2024 additions; (ii) the NDB and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA, $100bn); (iii) BRICS-currency / de-dollarisation debates; (iv) bilateral context — Mamallapuram 2019, Wuhan 2018, Galwan 2020; (v) SCO membership distinction (India joined 2017; SCO is China-centric; BRICS is “global South”); (vi) the legal status of joint statements vs Chair’s statement (when consensus fails, as happened at BRICS FM meet in Delhi May 2026 — Iran-UAE split).

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Key Facts Table

Element	Detail
Summit	18th BRICS, Bharat Mandapam, Delhi, Sep 12-13, 2026
Xi’s last India visit	Mamallapuram, October 2019
BRICS+ additions (Jan 2024)	Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE
Previous Summit	Kazan, Russia (Oct 2024)
SCO Summit 2026	Bishkek, Aug 31-Sep 1
India-China disengagement	Demchok/Depsang, Oct 2024

Mnemonic — “I-E-E-U” (Indian Edible Expansion United)

BRICS+ 2024 additions: Iran · Ethiopia · Egypt · UAE. Original BRICS = “BRICS” (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Delhi date = 12-13 Sep (“1213” — easy to recall).