"18th BRICS Summit Adopts New Delhi Declaration Amid Consensus Challenges"
New Delhi Declaration
The 140-point joint statement adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism
India's proposed troika-based system to track and follow up on outcomes across successive BRICS presidencies.
BRICS began as an informal grouping of major emerging economies. Its first formal summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. The original five members were Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South Africa was the last of the five to join. The grouping's founding premise was that Western-led institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, and the UN Security Council, inadequately represented large developing nations. The Fortaleza Declaration of 2014 gave BRICS a concrete institutional identity. It established the New Development Bank (NDB) with an authorised capital of $100 billion and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), also worth $100 billion, as a short-term liquidity support mechanism.
The structural backdrop against which BRICS operates is the deadlock over UN reform. The UN Security Council's permanent membership still reflects the post-World War II power structure. Efforts to reform it have stalled because of entrenched divisions between the Western bloc led by the United States and the Russia-China alliance, each of which can veto changes that threaten their position. BRICS, which includes both Russia and China alongside India, Brazil, and South Africa, has become one of the primary forums where the Global South articulates an alternative vision of multilateral governance, one that demands greater representation and a rebalancing of decision-making weight.
The 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, Russia, under the theme 'Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security'. That summit oversaw the formal induction of new full members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia, bringing total membership to eleven. Ten partner countries were also designated. This was the most significant structural change in BRICS history. India held the BRICS chairship in 2026 under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', hosting the 18th Summit in New Delhi.
The 18th BRICS Summit adopted the 140-point New Delhi Declaration. The document's most notable feature was its carefully calibrated language on ongoing conflicts. With eleven members holding divergent positions on the Russia-Ukraine war and the West Asia conflict, the declaration avoided naming any country as an offender. This allowed members with competing geopolitical alignments to remain within a common framework. The declaration also endorsed China as the 2027 chair.
For India, a significant outcome was the explicit condemnation of the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. The Rio Declaration of the previous year had not included such a reference. This represented a diplomatic gain, demonstrating that India could secure consensus on a bilateral security concern within a diverse multilateral forum.
India also proposed the BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism, under which the troika, the outgoing, current, and incoming chairs, will track progress and follow up on outcomes across presidencies. …
Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS:
I.16th BRICS Summit was held under the Chairship of Russia in Kazan.
II.Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS.
III.The theme of the 16th BRICS Summit was 'Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security'.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The 'Fortaleza Declaration', recently in the news, is related to the affairs of
With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider the following statements:
1.The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.
2.South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
'The reform process in the United Nations remains unresolved, because of the delicate imbalance of East and West and entanglement of the USA vs. Russo-Chinese alliance.' Examine and critically evaluate the East-West policy confrontations in this regard.
With reference to BRICS, consider the following pairs:
Grouping feature — Correct detail
1.First BRICS Summit — Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2009
2.Fortaleza Declaration — Established NDB and CRA, each with $100 billion authorised capital
3.16th BRICS Summit theme — 'Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security'
4.Last original member to join BRICS — South Africa
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Consider the following statements regarding the 18th BRICS Summit held in New Delhi:
1.The New Delhi Declaration contains 140 points and explicitly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.
2.China was endorsed as the BRICS chair for 2027.
3.India proposed a BRICS Continuity and Implementation Mechanism under which the troika of outgoing, current, and incoming chairs will track progress across presidencies.
4.An operational cross-border payment system in national currencies was launched at the summit.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding BRICS membership and composition:
1.BRICS currently has 11 full members and 10 partner countries.
2.Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE became full members at the Kazan Summit.
3.India's 2026 BRICS chairship theme is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following best explains why BRICS has not yet operationalised a cross-border payment system in national currencies, despite repeated summit-level commitments?
1.Divergent exchange rate regimes and capital controls among member states
2.Differential exposure to international sanctions across members
3.China's asymmetric dominance in intra-BRICS trade
4.Absence of any BRICS body tasked with exploring payment interoperability
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Assertion (A): The New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit avoided naming individual countries as offenders in ongoing conflicts.
Reason (R): BRICS members hold divergent geopolitical positions on the Russia-Ukraine war and the West Asia conflict, making consensus possible only through deliberately calibrated language.
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