India assumed the official BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2026, marking its fourth time leading the group
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New Delhi, August 12: Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are among the leaders likely to attend the BRICS Summit to be hosted by India in New Delhi on September 12-13, which is set to put the concerns and priorities of developing and emerging economies at the centre of its agenda.There will be a strong push to strengthen the grouping’s development finance architecture with focus on the New Development Bank that has been financing various projects in eligible countries, sources said. “Proposals for a common BRICS currency are unlikely to find much traction. Neither is much movement expected on taking in newer members as the ones recently inducted have to first settle in,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to skip the summit due to his country’s elections. Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who has also been invited to participate as in the outreach sessions, hasn’t yet confirmed his presence, the source added.27 Invitees“The summit will bring together about 27 invitees (excluding India), including 10 BRICS members, 10 partner countries, five outreach countries and a couple of institutions. The confirmations are still coming in,” the source said.India assumed the official BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2026, marking its fourth time leading the group. China will take over from India as the chair in 2027.The summit is also expected to review the functioning of the BRICS NDB, which has approved 139 development projects with total financing of around $42.9 billion, according to numbers published by the bank. Currency Debate“The discussions are likely to focus on strengthening the bank’s role in mobilising development finance and supporting infrastructure and sustainable development priorities across member and eligible countries,” the source said.There is unlikely to be much discussion on the idea of a common BRICS currency at the summit, as the proposal has not been the subject of significant deliberations within the grouping. However, the broader issue of de-dollarisation could find a mention, with some members expected to flag the need to promote greater use of local currencies in cross-border trade and payments, another source pointed out.Published on August 12, 2026
