Overview
- Leaders meeting Sept 12–13 in New Delhi unanimously approved a 45‑page New Delhi Declaration that sets priorities for the expanded 11‑member BRICS grouping.
- The declaration demands reform of Western‑dominated institutions by calling for greater developing‑country representation on the UN Security Council, the IMF and the World Bank.
- On finance, members rejected a single BRICS currency but backed local‑currency trade settlement work and strengthened cross‑border payments through the BRICS Payment Task Force.
- The text uses carefully neutral language on active wars, condemns the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and relied on sideline diplomacy such as Iran–UAE talks to bridge sharp regional divides.
- The main test now is implementation: India proposed a troika and a digital repository to track progress while China will chair 2027 and lead planned projects including an open‑source AI initiative.