Farhat Naikk
UN chief’s participation adds diplomatic significance to India’s fourth BRICS chairmanship
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is set to participate in the upcoming BRICS Summit in New Delhi, scheduled to be held on September 12 and 13 at Bharat Mandapam.
India, which assumed the BRICS chairmanship on January 1 this year, is hosting the grouping’s 18th summit. The meeting is expected to bring together leaders from BRICS member and partner nations, along with other invited countries.
Guterres’ participation comes at an important stage of his tenure as UN Secretary-General, with his second five-year term scheduled to conclude in December 2026. His presence is also expected to add weight to discussions on global cooperation, multilateralism and challenges confronting the developing world.
India has chosen “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” as the central theme of its BRICS chairmanship. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the country has organised more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements in over 25 cities as part of its BRICS programme.
The activities have focused on three broad areas — political and security cooperation, economic and financial collaboration, and cultural as well as people-to-people exchanges. New Delhi has sought to give the chairmanship a practical and development-oriented character through business, institutional and public-level initiatives.
India is one of the founding members of BRICS and has previously chaired the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The organisation is also marking two decades since its establishment this year.
Guterres had earlier visited India in February 2026 for the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, described as the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
His upcoming visit follows his recent engagements on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, where he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. During those discussions, the UN chief emphasised the need for diplomacy and negotiations to address regional conflicts and expressed concern over their humanitarian and economic consequences.
The New Delhi BRICS summit is expected to attract considerable international attention, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian among the leaders expected to attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also widely expected to participate.
With BRICS expanding its membership and increasing its role in discussions on global economic and geopolitical issues, the summit will provide India an important platform to advance its priorities on cooperation, development and a stronger voice for the Global South.
