BRICS summit opens in New Delhi with focus on global governance reform

The 18th BRICS summit commenced in New Delhi, uniting the leaders of member states and officials from invited nations under the theme Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability. This two-day event, taking place during India's presidency of the group in 2026, will focus on strengthening cooperation among BRICS countries in areas such as economics, finance, politics, and development, while also exploring innovation and sustainability.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the summit, emphasizing the urgent need to reform global governance systems and enhance the representation of the Global South in decision-making processes. Modi stressed that the reform of the United Nations Security Council must not be postponed, urging negotiators to set a clear timeline and achieve tangible results.

He proposed that voting rights, leadership positions, and policy priorities in key financial institutions should accurately reflect current economic realities, with countries driving global growth playing an appropriate role in shaping economic governance.

Modi unveiled ten recommendations for global governance reform, which will be consolidated into a roadmap by the subsequent summit. These recommendations will center on three main pillars: representation, responsiveness, and rule-making. He stressed the importance of equal participation in formulating global rules, particularly in sectors like artificial intelligence, cyberspace, outer space, biotechnology, and critical technologies.

Modi called for the Global South to transition from being passive recipients of rules to active participants in shaping the future world order, ensuring they share in the right to define the global future.