New Delhi is gearing up for the BRICS Summit 2026, with the two-day meeting scheduled at Bharat Mandapam on September 12–13 as India hosts one of the year’s key diplomatic gatherings.The summit, which marks 20 years of the grouping, gives India an opportunity to push for greater coherence within BRICS and demonstrate whether the bloc can play a stronger role in shaping global economic and diplomatic outcomes.India’s BRICS presidency is centred on four pillars — resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability — guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Humanity First” approach.Read more: BRICS Summit in New Delhi: The grand finale is India's moment to navigate a bigger, and more divided blocThe grouping has expanded significantly since it was formed as BRIC, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China. The four countries held their first foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006, before holding their first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.South Africa joined the group in 2011, turning BRIC into BRICS. The bloc expanded again in January 2024, when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE became full members. Indonesia joined the group in January 2025, further broadening the grouping’s footprint.Read more: BRICS Summit 2026 schedule: What happens on September 12 and 13? Full datewise agenda, key issues, themes & prioritiesBRICS 2026: Who are attending?Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit, marking his second visit to India in under a year following the annual bilateral summit in New Delhi in December 2025. PM Modi renewed the invitation to President Putin in person when the two leaders met at the SCO summit in Bishkek on 31 August.Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance is yet to be confirmed. If the President attends the summit, it will mark his first visit to India since the 2019 informal summit in Mamallapuram with PM Modi, with a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Xi on the sidelines widely anticipated.The summit's prominent roster of attendees includes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will also take part, while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will likely participate, though a formal announcement remains pending.Collectively, BRICS represents around 49 per cent of the world's population, and about 40 per cent of global GDP (PPP). According to the complete itinerary, the summit schedule begins on Saturday, 12 September 2026, with the arrival of BRICS leaders from member countries at the Bharat Mandapam.BRICS itinerary:Day 1 will feature a closed-door leaders’ session, an exhibition, a family photo and a joint tree-planting ceremony, followed by a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Day 2 will focus on “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, bringing together BRICS members, partner countries and invitees.The summit will conclude with the release of the New Delhi Declaration.Why Xi's visit is important?Chinese President Xi Jinping's much-anticipated visit to New Delhi this week, his first to India in seven years, should further the diplomatic thaw ​between the giant neighbours, but there are few signs as yet that their ​business ties will improve.Businesses in both countries continue to face hurdles, including investments stalled by regulations, visa delays and restrictions on industrial equipment, underlining ​the gap between diplomatic progress and economic ties.In March, India eased some of the restrictions on Chinese investment that it imposed following the 2020 border clashes, focusing on electronics, capital goods and solar ​cell sectors. It is also considering faster approvals for joint ventures between Indian and Chinese firms in some industries.New Delhi has since approved ⁠a few ‌significant projects, including a manufacturing venture between India's Dixon Technologies and Chinese smartphone maker Vivo Mobile.Putin's highly-anticipated visit:Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 11, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with defence, trade, nuclear energy and emerging areas of cooperation expected to feature in discussions.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking to reporters in Moscow on Tuesday, confirmed that the two leaders are scheduled to meet during Putin's India visit.Also Read: Vladimir Putin to attend BRICS Summit in India, hold bilateral talks with PM Modi: Kremlin"We're looking forward to the President and Prime Minister having another bilateral meeting during the visit. It is scheduled for Friday, so first, like always, they will touch on the bilateral agenda. Trade and economic cooperation is a very wide scope."Peskov also said India and Russia are discussing technology transfer for Russia's Su-57 fighter aircraft, while cooperation in rare earth exploration is also under discussion between the two countries."India has been asking for technology transfer for SU-57 and that is under discussion," the Kremlin spokesperson said.The two sides are also expected to discuss nuclear energy, with Moscow awaiting further negotiations with New Delhi on setting up new nuclear power plants."We are waiting for negotiations with India on setting up new nuclear plants," Peskov said.