BRICS Civil Forum 2026: India's People-Centric Chairship and the Road to the 18th Summit

Core Context

BRICS began life in 2006 as an informal grouping of Brazil, Russia, India and China, built on the "BRIC" acronym coined by an economist to describe the world's fastest-growing large emerging economies. The first formal BRIC summit was held in Russia in 2009, and South Africa joined the following year, turning BRIC into BRICS. For over a decade the grouping remained a five-member club focused on reforming global economic governance, reducing dependence on Western-led institutions, and building South-South cooperation. Its most tangible institutional output has been the New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai, set up to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member and partner countries.

The character of BRICS changed sharply in this decade. At the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, the group approved its first major expansion, admitting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members with effect from 1 January 2024. Indonesia followed, becoming a full member from January 2025. In parallel, BRICS created a new "Partner Country" category in 2024, allowing states to engage in select meetings and sessions without full membership, easing the political weight of admission while still widening the tent. A batch of ten partner countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, was inducted in 2025. BRICS today accounts for roughly 40 percent of global GDP and about half the world's population, making its internal coordination and annual chairship a matter of real consequence for global governance debates.

Latest Developments

India took over the BRICS chairship from Brazil on 1 January 2026 and will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12-13 September 2026. India has built its year-long chairship around the theme "Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," deliberately mapping the four pillars onto the letters of the BRICS acronym itself. The chairship has been structured to be visibly "people-centric," moving beyond closed-door Sherpa and ministerial tracks to include dedicated forums for civil society, youth, urban planners and other stakeholder groups across host cities.

The BRICS Sherpa process began in February 2026, when India hosted the first Sherpa-level meeting in New Delhi; India's Sherpa for the grouping is Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Since then, India has convened over 350 meetings across sectoral tracks, including a BRICS Urbanisation Forum focused on inclusive and resilient cities, and a Foreign Ministers' meeting in May 2026. On 18 August 2026, India opened the BRICS Civil Forum in New Delhi, where the MEA's Secretary (Economic Relations) told delegates that India's chairship has consistently placed people, rather than only states, at the centre of BRICS cooperation. The Civil Forum's proceedings are expected to feed directly into the agenda for September's leaders' summit, which will be watched closely for outcomes on global governance reform, Global South representation, and Digital Public Infrastructure as a template for other developing economies.

UPSC Prelims Angle

• BRICS originated from the acronym "BRIC," first used for Brazil, Russia, India and China; the first summit was held in Russia in 2009, and South Africa's entry in 2010 completed the shift to "BRICS."
• Five new full members joined on 1 January 2024: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; Indonesia became the eleventh full member in January 2025.
• The "Partner Country" category was created in 2024; ten states, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand and Vietnam, joined this track in 2025.
• The New Development Bank (NDB), BRICS's flagship financial institution, is headquartered in Shanghai.
• India assumed the BRICS chairship from Brazil on 1 January 2026 and will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12-13 September 2026.
• India's 2026 chairship theme is "Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," mapped onto the letters B-R-I-C-S.