India Hosts BRICS Summit as Xi, Putin Visit — SkimNews
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- Modi will host the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi this weekend, welcoming Xi Jinping for the first time since 2019, with Russian President Vladimir Putin also expected to attend
- India is concluding its year-long BRICS presidency while stepping up engagement with China and Russia amid difficult ties with the US
- Modi met both Xi and Putin at the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on August 31 and September 1 — just two weeks before the BRICS gathering
- India and China reached a 2024 border patrol agreement ending a four-year military standoff, but India reports a $112 billion trade deficit and disputes over market access persist
- BRICS has grown from 5 original members to 11, and now includes both Iran and the UAE — countries on opposing sides of the Iran war — exposing sharp internal divides
- BRICS foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint Middle East statement earlier this year, forcing India to issue a unilateral chair's statement instead
- Strategic analyst C Raja Mohan told DW India pursues an "America Plus" strategy, relying on the West for capital, technology, and markets while deepening ties with Russia and China
Why it matters: The Delhi summit will show whether Modi can advance his developing-country priorities within BRICS without letting it become a China-led or anti-Western bloc. With BRICS now including Iran and the UAE on opposite sides of a war, the inability to issue even a joint Middle East statement signals that India's room for maneuver — and its 'America Plus' balancing act — is narrowing as great-power rivalry intensifies.
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