Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and counterparts from across the BRICS bloc to New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam convention center on Saturday, opening the 18th BRICS summit under the banner "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."

The gathering, running through Sunday, brings together leaders representing roughly 40% of the world's population and a growing share of global GDP, according to Al Jazeera's summit preview. Also attending are Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, among counterparts from the bloc's expanded ten-member roster.

A Bloc Under Strain

This year's summit convenes with the war in Ukraine grinding into its fourth year, the region still absorbing the fallout from the US-Israel military campaign against Iran, and trade tensions between BRICS members and Washington running high. NPR reports the bloc is being tested by exactly the kind of great-power friction it was designed to help its members navigate outside Western-led institutions.

BUILDING FOR RESILIENCE, INNOVATION, COOPERATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Putin's presence marks his highest-profile appearance on the world stage since renewed warnings to European capitals against deploying troops to Ukraine, which he has cast as a direct provocation against Moscow. Xi arrives fresh off a run of bilateral meetings positioning China as a counterweight to US tariff pressure, while Pezeshkian's attendance underscores Tehran's push to deepen ties with non-Western powers in the aftermath of this year's conflict with Israel.

India, for its part, is walking a careful line: hosting a summit that includes its geopolitical rivals China and Pakistan-aligned partners while continuing defense and trade discussions with the United States. Reports ahead of the summit indicated Modi was expected to hold separate bilateral talks with both Putin and Xi, covering everything from a possible Russian arms deal to efforts to stabilize the India-China relationship after years of border tension.

What's on the Table

Formal sessions are expected to address a common BRICS payment mechanism aimed at reducing reliance on the US dollar, coordination on AI governance, and a joint statement on the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts — though officials have cautioned that consensus language among members with sharply different positions on Russia and Iran is unlikely to go beyond calls for dialogue.

The summit closes Sunday with a leaders' declaration and a customary group photograph, a ritual that in past years has become its own geopolitical Rorschach test, parsed for who stands next to whom.

Washington has not issued formal comment on this year's gathering, though US officials have previously characterized BRICS expansion as more symbolic than a genuine threat to dollar dominance. Analysts will be watching for any concrete steps on de-dollarization or sanctions-evasion mechanisms that could sharpen that debate.