Overview
- India is using its 2026 BRICS chairship to push for practical outcomes rather than declarations, seeking deliverables on trade facilitation, supply‑chain resilience and greater MSME participation.
- New Delhi has prioritized payment connectivity that expands use of national currencies by linking fast payment systems and central bank digital currency rails instead of creating a single BRICS currency.
- The New Development Bank is being positioned to scale local‑currency lending, guarantees and trade finance so funding can back infrastructure and intra‑BRICS projects.
- Official Indian trade data show a sharp rise in Russian crude in India’s imports, prompting discussions of a member‑to‑member crude price ceiling and wider rupee payments for Russian oil as likely summit items.
- BRICS expansion has boosted economic weight but raised political diversity, which makes consensus on sensitive measures harder and turns the New Delhi summit into a test of whether members will convert technical agreements into action.