NEW DELHI: India will host leaders including the presidents of Russia and Iran for a BRICS summit tomorrow, with the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges, expected to dominate talks among the 11-member group.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are expected to arrive in New Delhi, with both scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has also been invited, although Beijing has yet to confirm his participation in the two-day summit. If he attends, it would be his first visit to India since 2019 and a major step in improving ties between the two Asian powers after years of tensions.
Relations have gradually improved since a deadly 2020 border clash, with flights, visas and high-level contacts being restored. However, mistrust remains over their disputed Himalayan border, growing trade deficit and strategic rivalry.
Posters of Modi have appeared across New Delhi, while heavy security and traffic restrictions have been imposed ahead of the leaders’ arrival. Friday has been declared a city holiday.
BRICS was formed in 2009 by major emerging economies seeking greater influence in global institutions dominated by Western powers. It has since expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have differing positions on the war launched by the United States and Israel in February.
“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the BRICS summit,” said Harsh V. Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation.
Pezeshkian’s visit will put the Iran war firmly on the agenda and could test the unity of the expanded group. BRICS foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement at a meeting in New Delhi in May.
India maintains relations with both Iran and Israel while also seeking to balance its ties with Washington.
The country has turned partly to Russia to manage the energy crisis caused by the Iran war. Russia remains one of India’s key strategic partners and a major fuel supplier despite the continuing war in Ukraine.
Putin last visited India in December 2025 and met Modi again in Bishkek this month. Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Kyiv, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked India for supporting efforts to end the war. – AFP
