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BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

BRICS and the SCO: their summits, members and India's role.

BRICS under India's chairship, 2026

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Prelims and Mains

LeadIndia hosts BRICS: the New Delhi DeclarationSeptember 2026

Why in news

India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 12 and 13 September 2026. The leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration by consensus on 12 September, with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian present.

Background

  • BRICS began as Brazil, Russia, India and China; South Africa joined in 2010. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined in 2024, Indonesia in 2025: eleven members.
  • The chair rotates in the order of the acronym. This was India's fourth chairship, after 2012, 2016 and 2021.
  • India's theme spelt the acronym: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.
  • The grouping's bank, the New Development Bank, was agreed at Fortaleza in 2014 and sits in Shanghai; Uzbekistan became its tenth member in June.

What the declaration said

  • It condemned the Pahalgam attack and called for zero tolerance and no double standards on terrorism, agreed with Iran and China in the room, though it did not name Pakistan.
  • It called for a Security Council more representative of developing countries, with China and Russia restating support for a greater role for India and Brazil.
  • It said unilateral tariffs distort trade and asked for the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement to be restored.
  • It urged maximum restraint in West Asia, including protection of nuclear facilities.
  • It made no reference to the war in Ukraine, unlike the Kazan (2024) and Rio (2025) declarations.

Managing a divided grouping

  • Expansion put rivals in one room: Iran and the United Arab Emirates while the West Asia war continued. Earlier ministerial meetings had failed to agree statements.
  • The summit text was settled overnight, naming neither the American and Israeli strikes nor Iran's attacks on its neighbours.
  • Consensus by omission on Ukraine kept the room together but contrasts with India's G20 presidency of 2023, when it secured agreed language.
  • Brazil's President stayed away for his elections; Saudi Arabia, counted but never confirmed as a member, sent its Foreign Minister.

India's stakes and proposals

  • India used the chair to steer BRICS towards development and reform and away from an anti Western edge, which is how it squares membership with its Western partnerships.
  • It proposed a troika, as in the G20, so that decisions carry over between chairs; a roadmap on global governance reform; and a seafarers' distress network.
  • The terrorism language was a diplomatic gain; the trade language supports India in its dispute with the United States.
  • China chairs in 2027: the test of whether India's balance holds.

The way forward

  • Institutionalise the troika and a small secretariat, so that outcomes survive a change of chair.
  • Keep BRICS practical: payments in local currencies, the bank, disaster response.
  • Decide how to handle members at war with each other; silence may not be available a second time.

Prelims facts

  • 18th BRICS Summit: New Delhi, 12 and 13 September 2026; declaration adopted on 12 September.
  • Members: eleven; Indonesia the latest, in 2025.
  • India's chairships: 2012, 2016, 2021, 2026. China chairs in 2027.
  • The New Development Bank was agreed at Fortaleza (2014) and sits in Shanghai.
  • The declaration condemned the Pahalgam attack and did not mention Ukraine.

Open the lead on its own page

BRICS began as Brazil, Russia, India and China; South Africa joined in 2010. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined in 2024, Indonesia in 2025: eleven members.

What changed

  1. 12 Sep 2026LeadIndia hosts BRICS: the New Delhi Declaration

  2. 31 Aug 2026Briefnewly addedIndia announced that it will host the 18th BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 12 and 13 September 2026. DD India, 31 Aug 2026: India to host 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12 13 (opens in a new tab)

  3. 16 Jul 2026Briefnewly addedOn 7 July the heads of BRICS anti drug agencies adopted the Guwahati Declaration on joint action against illicit drug trafficking. On 15 July BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers met in Hyderabad and adopted a joint declaration on social protection and skills. The Hindu, 8 Jul 2026: Significance of Guwahati Declaration adopted by BRICS nations (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 16 Jul 2026: BRICS nations adopt joint declaration at Hyderabad meeting (opens in a new tab)

  4. 23 Jun 2026Newnewly added

    • On 18 June Uzbekistan became the tenth member of the New Development Bank and the first from Central Asia.
    • On 22 and 23 June the National Security Adviser chaired the 16th meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers in New Delhi, on cyber security, terrorism and artificial intelligence.

    The Hindu, 23 Jun 2026: Opening of Strait of Hormuz welcome move: NSA Doval at BRICS conclave (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 22 Jun 2026: NSA Doval meets counterparts from BRICS grouping (opens in a new tab) · New Development Bank, 18 Jun 2026: Uzbekistan officially joins New Development Bank as new member country (opens in a new tab)

See also: BRICS as a negotiating bloc

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

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Prelims and Mains

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), founded in 2001 out of the Shanghai Five, has its secretariat in Beijing and its Regional Anti Terrorist Structure in Tashkent.

  • It has ten members; India and Pakistan joined in 2017, Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
  • The Council of Heads of State is the top body, and the chair rotates each year.
  • India presses for action against terrorism and refuses to endorse China's Belt and Road Initiative, because the China Pakistan Economic Corridor runs through PoJK, Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

What changed

  1. 28 Sep 2026newly added

    • From 28 to 30 September an Indian delegation led by India's SCO national coordinator attended a planning meeting in Islamabad.

    ThePrint, 28 Sep 2026: Days after trading barbs at UNGA, Indian delegation in Islamabad for three day SCO planning meet (opens in a new tab)

  2. 1 Sep 2026newly added

    • At the 26th summit, in Bishkek on 1 September, leaders signed the Bishkek Declaration and a protocol amending the SCO Charter: it makes the Universal Centre for Countering Challenges and Threats and the Anti-Drug Centre permanent, creates an "SCO Partner" category and gives English official status.
    • The Prime Minister called for dismantling the entire ecosystem of terrorism, with no double standards, and offered to host the first SCO Civilisation Dialogue Forum.
    • On 1 September Pakistan took over the rotating chair and will host the 2027 summit; the Ministry of External Affairs said a decision on attending would be taken at the appropriate time.

    Ministry of External Affairs, 1 Sep 2026: Prime Minister's address and the documents signed at the 26th SCO Summit, Bishkek · ThePrint, 1 Sep 2026: India non committal on Pakistan led SCO in 2027 (opens in a new tab)

  3. 31 Aug 2026newly added

    • The Ministry of External Affairs announced the Prime Minister's visit to Kyrgyzstan for the 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek, from 31 August to 1 September.
    • On 31 August the Prime Minister held bilateral meetings on the margins, among them with the Presidents of Russia and Iran.

    DD India, 29 Aug 2026: PM Modi to visit Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic from August 29 to September 1 (opens in a new tab) · DD India, 31 Aug 2026: PM Modi, Putin review India Russia ties, discuss regional conflicts on sidelines of SCO summit (opens in a new tab)

  4. 24 Jul 2026Briefnewly addedThe SCO Council of Foreign Ministers met in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, and prepared the Bishkek summit of 1 September and its draft declaration for the SCO's 25th anniversary. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, 24 Jul 2026: SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meets in Cholpon-Ata (opens in a new tab)

See also: India and Central Asia

Also filed elsewhere

  • BRICS as a negotiating bloc · on UNFCCC negotiations and the Paris framework

    BRICS is an eleven country group in which a Global South position on climate and on trade is now written jointly.