Modi, Putin Reaffirm Ties at BRICS Summit 2026 — SkimNews
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- Putin and Modi held bilateral talks on the BRICS Summit sidelines covering the Ukraine-Russia conflict, energy cooperation, trade, defense, technology, pharmaceuticals, and people-to-people exchanges, per India's Ministry of External Affairs.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Delhi for bilateral talks with Modi at 6:15 p.m. local time Friday — his first visit to India by an Iranian president in over eight years, with talks focused on trade and overall ties amid Middle East tensions and energy market disruptions.
- Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged BRICS nations to link payment systems, trade in local currencies, and expand digital trade, citing India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now operating in 11 countries as a model for cross-border financial cooperation.
- Former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor told DW that BRICS expansion made the bloc 'the voice of the Global South' but 'contradictions remain' — leaders this year could not agree on language for Iran or Ukraine, forcing India to issue a chair statement instead of a joint declaration.
- BRICS now encompasses 11 member and partner countries representing nearly 3.7 billion people and close to 40% of global GDP, though a source-attested alternative payment system and China's dominant role could test unity.
- Putin's attendance marks his first in-person BRICS Summit held outside Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Delhi deployed thousands of security personnel, closing all schools September 11 with traffic restrictions for three days.
Why it matters: BRICS now spans 11 members, 3.7 billion people, and roughly 40% of global GDP, yet leaders couldn't agree on language for Iran or Ukraine at this summit, forcing India to issue a chair statement rather than a consensus declaration. Tharoor's observation that the bloc's growing membership is deepening its internal contradictions signals that expansion may be diluting — not strengthening — BRICS's ability to act as a unified geopolitical counterweight.
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