New Delhi Hosts 18th BRICS Summit with 140-Point Declaration

The 18th BRICS summit took place in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, bringing together key international figures and member nations for high-level discussions. The high-profile gathering concluded with the adoption of a comprehensive 140-point New Delhi declaration, marking a significant milestone for the bloc. This successful consensus followed an earlier ministerial meeting held in May of this year in New Delhi, which had concluded without producing a joint statement.

The summit featured participation and discussions involving a broad array of prominent individuals, including Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Masoud Pezeshkian, Kenneth Waltz, James Fearon, Dmitry Dolgin, Henry Kissinger, Robert Putnam, C. Raja Mohan, and Thomas Schelling. Additionally, several major organizations and media outlets were tied to the discourse surrounding the summit, namely BRICS, the New Development Bank (NDB), the Atlantic Council's Geo-Economics Center, the Bank for International Settlements, the Chicago Policy Review, ING, The Indian Express, and Al Jazeera.

Reflecting on the nature and trajectory of the bloc, C. Raja Mohan emphasized the importance of keeping BRICS positioned as a flexible cooperation platform rather than allowing it to become a rigid geopolitical block. This perspective aligns with the expanding scale and economic footprint of the grouping on the global stage, which currently represents approximately half of the world's total population.

In terms of economic magnitude, the member nations of the bloc collectively account for roughly 40 percent of the global GDP and approximately 26 percent of international trade. Financial mechanisms within the grouping, particularly through the New Development Bank (NDB), have continued to progress steadily. By the year 2025, the institution has approved around 140 projects valued at approximately 43 billion dollars, with nearly 43.5 percent of this total financing executed using the national currencies of the member countries.

The geopolitical composition of the bloc has also seen notable expansion. Alongside founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the collective now includes newly joined nations such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. All eleven of these member countries participated in the unanimous adoption of the New Delhi declaration.