Xi, Putin and Modi Open 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi; Bloc Adopts Joint Declaration
Leaders of the 11-member group met Sept. 12-13 at Bharat Mandapam and agreed on a declaration, a day after BRICS finance chiefs raised "serious concerns" about unilateral tariffs without naming any country.
Two Leaders, One Table, Seven Years of Silence
Xi Jinping landed in New Delhi on Saturday morning, September 12, 2026. It was his first trip to India in nearly seven years[6]. The two countries' relationship had been frozen since a deadly clash on their disputed Himalayan border in 2020, and now the Chinese president was walking into the same summit hall as his host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi[6].
Vladimir Putin had already arrived. He and Modi held bilateral talks the day before, on Friday, September 11[13]. By Saturday, the leaders of all 11 BRICS nations, including Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, had gathered at the Bharat Mandapam convention center for the bloc's 18th annual summit, set to run through September 13[1][16].
The first session was closed to press. Its official topic was "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism"[12]. By the end of it, negotiators had reached consensus on a joint declaration, which Modi announced to the group[7]. Getting there took some doing: drafters had to bridge disagreements between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the Middle East before anyone could sign off[1][7].
The Statement That Named No One
One day before the summit opened, BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors released a joint statement from a meeting held September 9-10 in Mumbai[4]. It raised what it called "serious concerns" about countries imposing tariffs and other trade barriers on their own, outside the rules of the World Trade Organization[4][5].
The statement did not name the United States[4][5]. But the timing and language left little doubt about who the ministers had in mind, and several Indian outlets described it as an indirect reference to Washington's trade policy[4]. That gap between what was said and what was understood shaped a lot of the coverage that followed.
Some U.S. outlets skipped the gap entirely. Fox News opened its story with Putin, Xi and Pezeshkian "descending" on India amid "escalating global tensions," a framing that treats the summit as a loyalty test for Modi rather than a meeting about trade[3]. CNBC's headline put Donald Trump at the center of the story, describing the leaders as meeting "amid Trump pressure," even though Trump is not attending and the summit's agenda, covering payments systems, development lending and AI, was set months ago[2].
The Tariff That Already Came Down
Much of the coverage treats this summit as a live test of American leverage over countries buying Russian oil. That premise has a problem: the penalty tariff at the center of it was lifted seven months ago.
Here is the sequence. In August 2025, the U.S. added a 25% tariff on Indian goods specifically because India kept buying Russian oil, pushing the total tariff to 50% starting August 27[3][18]. India called the move "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" at the time[15][18]. Then, on February 2, 2026, the two countries announced an interim trade deal that cut the U.S. tariff on most Indian goods from 50% down to 18%[8][9].
The White House's own fact sheet lists Indian commitments made in exchange, including halting purchases of Russian oil[8][9]. So the specific tariff meant to punish India for buying that oil was already rolled back well before this summit began. What remains unresolved is a fuller trade agreement. As of September 4, 2026, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India would only sign once the U.S. offered a rate better than what competitors like Vietnam and Bangladesh get[10]. The 18% rate stands for now[10][15].
Why Nobody in This Room Wants a Clean Choice
Underneath the summitry sits a problem India cannot fully solve: it needs Russia and it needs America, and it cannot afford to lose either.
India buys discounted Russian crude and most of its heavy weapons from Moscow. At the same time, the United States is India's biggest export market and its main counterweight to a rising China[3][13]. Any policy that forces India to pick one side costs it badly no matter which way it goes. That is why Modi's own framing at the summit was not about confrontation. He told the opening session that the Global South sits "in the front row of global crises, but in the back row of decision-making"[12], a line aimed more at developing-world solidarity than at Washington.
Russia and Iran see the tariff fight differently. Their argument is that a secondary tariff, a tariff aimed at one country for what it buys from another, functions as a punishment for a sovereign country's trade choices rather than a normal trade tool[3][14][18]. It is also, in their telling, cheaper and faster for Washington than the alternative: sanctioning banks directly.
That points to the deeper mechanism driving the bloc's push for local-currency payments. Most world trade is priced in dollars and clears through banks connected to the U.S. financial system. That gives Washington the ability to cut a target off from the global payments network almost anywhere on Earth, without firing a shot or sending a ship[4]. BRICS's interest in letting members pay each other in rupees, yuan or rubles is an attempt to build payment channels the U.S. cannot reach. It is also genuinely hard to pull off: a country holding rupees instead of dollars can struggle to spend them anywhere else, which is why years of talk about de-dollarization have produced only limited results so far.
The Trump administration's own view is that the tariff approach worked exactly as intended. India's rate fell from 50% to 18% only after it committed to stop buying Russian oil, according to the White House's account of the deal[8][9]. Supporters of the policy argue that economic pressure achieved in months what years of diplomacy could not, and note that the WTO's own dispute-resolution system has been non-functional for years, weakening the "unilateral and against WTO rules" complaint. The administration has also warned that countries trying to move away from the dollar could face steep new tariffs, treating de-dollarization as a threat to a real American advantage[2].
What China Wants From a Room It Doesn't Fully Control
China's framing casts itself as the defender of the existing trade rulebook, not its challenger. Xi's stated goals at the summit were to "uphold multilateralism," protect "the international economic and trade order" from unilateral measures, and back "common development" through China's Global Development, Security and Civilization Initiatives[11].
That framing serves two purposes for Beijing. China takes over the BRICS chair in 2027 and wants a bigger, more organized bloc to inherit[11]. It is also itself a target of U.S. tariffs, so any bloc-wide statement criticizing "unilateral measures" protects Chinese interests directly, even without naming China. And a warm reception in Delhi, however symbolic, is worth something to Beijing regardless of what the joint declaration says: a picture of the two Asian giants sitting together is itself a form of diplomatic repair, seven years after the relationship froze[6].
None of that resolves the actual dispute over the border, which remains just as unsettled as it was in 2020[6]. A red carpet doesn't undo a standoff.
The Barrels Still Have to Move Somewhere
Communiqués don't change physics. India still needs roughly 5 million barrels of imported crude a day, and it will keep buying wherever the price is lowest. Russian oil has been the cheapest option, and replacing those barrels with cargo from the Middle East, Africa and South America raises India's fuel import bill regardless of what any summit declares.
The institutional machinery of BRICS, its development bank, its payment systems, its membership rolls, keeps expanding no matter what happens in Washington, since China takes the chair in 2027 either way[11]. And the finance ministers' statement, whatever it implied, named no country[4][5]. The next marker to watch isn't in New Delhi. It's whether India and the U.S. can close the trade deal that has been sitting unsigned since Goyal's September 4 comments, and at what rate[10].
Summary
Leaders of the BRICS group opened their 18th annual summit in New Delhi on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at the Bharat Mandapam convention center[1][16]. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa joined host Prime Minister Narendra Modi[1][3]. Xi landed in Delhi on Saturday morning. It was his first visit to India in nearly seven years, since a deadly 2020 clash on the disputed Himalayan border froze relations[6]. Modi said in opening remarks that the Global South is "in the front row of global crises, but in the back row of decision-making"[12]. Negotiators reached consensus on a joint New Delhi declaration, which Modi announced after the opening session[7].
The trade dispute in the background is U.S. tariff policy. One day before the summit, on Sept. 11, BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors released a joint statement from their Sept. 9-10 meeting in Mumbai[4]. It raised "serious concerns" about countries imposing tariffs and non-tariff barriers on their own, outside the World Trade Organization's rules[4][5]. The statement also backed building practical ways for members to pay each other in their own currencies instead of dollars[4]. Important caveat: the statement did not name the United States[4]. Coverage that describes it as criticism of Washington is reading an unnamed target, though the reference is widely understood.
The most important genuine dispute is about what tariffs are for. The Trump administration's position is that tariffs are legitimate leverage — a way to make third countries stop bankrolling Russia's war by buying its oil, without firing a shot. Russia, China and much of the bloc call the same tool coercion: punishing a sovereign state for choosing its own trading partners[14]. India sits in between. It called the 2025 penalty tariffs "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" at the time, then signed an interim deal with Washington in February 2026 that cut its tariff rate from 50% to 18%[8][15].
One widely repeated framing deserves a flag. This summit is often described as a test of U.S. leverage over Russia's oil buyers. But the penalty half of that leverage was already withdrawn. In February 2026 the White House cut India's rate to 18% as part of an interim trade deal, and the administration's own fact sheet lists an Indian commitment to halt Russian oil purchases among the terms[8][9]. Talks on a fuller agreement are still unfinished. On Sept. 4, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India will sign only when Washington offers a rate better than what competitors like Vietnam and Bangladesh get[10].
The Event
BRICS leaders opened their 18th annual summit on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, running through Sept. 13[1][16]. Xi Jinping arrived in Delhi on Saturday morning and was scheduled to meet Modi that evening; Putin had arrived earlier and held bilateral talks with Modi on Friday, Sept. 11[6][13]. The first leaders' session was closed to press and covered "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism"[12]. Negotiators reached consensus on a joint New Delhi declaration, and Modi announced its adoption after the opening session[7].
Undisputed Facts
- The 18th BRICS summit is being held in New Delhi on Sept. 12-13, 2026, with India holding the rotating chair[1][16].
- Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on Sept. 12, his first visit to India in nearly seven years[6].
- Putin held bilateral talks with Modi in New Delhi on Sept. 11, before the summit opened[13].
- BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors met in Mumbai on Sept. 9-10 and issued a joint statement on Sept. 11 citing "serious concerns" over unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures as inconsistent with WTO rules; the statement named no country[4][5].
- That same statement endorsed practical arrangements for cross-border payments in members' local currencies[4].
- In August 2025 the United States added a 25% tariff on Indian goods over India's imports of Russian oil, taking the total to 50%, effective Aug. 27, 2025[3][18].
- On Feb. 2, 2026, the United States and India announced an interim trade deal cutting the U.S. tariff on most Indian goods from 50% to 18%; the White House fact sheet lists Indian commitments including halting Russian oil purchases and large future purchases of U.S. goods[8][9][15].
- As of Sept. 4, 2026, a full U.S.-India trade agreement was still unsigned; Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India wants a rate preferential to competitors before finalizing[10].
- BRICS negotiators reached consensus on a joint declaration at the New Delhi summit, announced by Modi on Sept. 12[7].
The Pressure
Strip away the moralizing and blame. What structural realities persist regardless of which narrative wins?
- India cannot pick a side
- India buys discounted Russian crude and most of its heavy weapons from Russia, while the United States is its largest export market and its main counterweight to China[3][13]. Any policy that forces a clean choice costs India badly either way, so its permanent interest is keeping the choice open — which looks like fence-sitting from both capitals[10].
- The dollar is a chokepoint, and everyone knows it
- This is the mechanism the payments fight turns on. Most cross-border trade is priced in dollars and settled through banks that touch the U.S. financial system. That gives Washington the ability to cut off a target almost anywhere on earth — sanctions enforcement without a navy. BRICS's push for local-currency settlement is an attempt to build pipes outside that reach[4]. It is also genuinely hard: a country paid in rupees ends up holding rupees it cannot easily spend elsewhere, which is why years of announcements have produced limited volume. Washington's objection is not just symbolic — if the pipes work, the sanctions tool weakens.
- Secondary tariffs are the new sanctions
- A secondary tariff taxes Country A for buying from Country B. The 2025 India measure is the clearest case: 25 extra points of duty aimed not at Indian goods but at Russian oil revenue[3][18]. It is cheaper and faster than sanctioning banks, and it is the model Washington will reuse. That is why BRICS's finance statement attacks the category — "unilateral measures inconsistent with WTO rules" — rather than one case[4].
- BRICS is 11 countries that disagree
- The bloc now spans India and China, Iran and the UAE, Russia and Brazil. Drafting the New Delhi declaration required bridging Iran-UAE differences over West Asia and settling on condemning unilateral warfare without naming a country[1][7]. Consensus at that size is bought with vagueness, which limits how much any single line can be read as policy.
Material realityThe physical facts do not move with the communiqué. India still needs roughly five million barrels a day of imported crude and will buy it wherever the discount is. Russian barrels have been the cheapest, and replacing them with Middle Eastern, African and South American cargoes raises India's fuel import bill. The U.S. tariff on Indian goods stands at 18%, down from 50%, and a fuller deal is unsigned as of Sept. 4, 2026[10][15]. China takes the BRICS chair in 2027, so the institutional build-out — the New Development Bank, payment rails, membership expansion — continues regardless of what Washington does[11]. And the India-China border remains disputed; a red-carpet welcome for Xi does not resolve the 2020 clash that froze the relationship[6].
Narrative as a weaponFour parties are actively shaping how this reads. Beijing and Moscow want you to see a functioning alternative order — hence Xinhua's framing of Xi as the Global South's advocate and Russia's call for BRICS to counter the West[11][13]. New Delhi wants you to see a host, not a defector: Modi's "front row of crises, back row of decisions" line is aimed at a domestic and developing-world audience, not at Washington[12]. The Trump administration wants you to see leverage that worked — India's rate fell from 50% to 18% and, per the White House, Russian oil purchases were to stop[8][9]. And much U.S. coverage, right and center alike, wants you to see the summit as a referendum on Trump, which is why a finance ministers' statement that named no country gets reported as the bloc condemning America[2][4]. The specific thing to watch for: whether a story tells you the tariff that supposedly hangs over this summit was already cut seven months ago.
How Each Side Sees It
Each major actor’s view — how it frames things, its underlying incentive, and how it’s materially affected. Tap a side to read it.
Frames it asIndia's case is strategic autonomy: a country of its size should be able to buy energy from whoever sells it cheapest, and take security help from Russia while trading heavily with America. New Delhi argued in 2025 that its Russian oil imports were driven by market prices and energy security, and that several other countries were doing the same thing without being singled out[3]. Modi's summit framing is about representation, not confrontation — he told the opening session the Global South is "in the front row of global crises, but in the back row of decision-making," meaning poor and middle-income countries absorb the shocks from wars and tariffs while having little say in the institutions that set the rules[12]. India also insists BRICS is not anti-American: it hosts the bloc while negotiating a trade deal with Washington at the same time[10].
WhyModi wants two things that pull against each other — a lower U.S. tariff for Indian exporters and continued cheap Russian crude and Russian defense supplies[10][13]. Hosting lets him look like a bridge rather than a defector, and lets him stage a thaw with Xi after the 2020 border clash without appearing to pick China's side[6].
Impact on themIndian exporters face an 18% U.S. tariff, down from 50%, but still above what rivals like Vietnam pay — which is exactly why Goyal says the deal is not yet signed[10][15]. Domestically, standing up to Washington polls well; being seen as caving does not. India also gets host-country prestige from a summit attended by Xi, Putin and Pezeshkian[1][3].
Frames it asBoth argue that tariffs used to punish a third country for its trading choices are coercion, not trade policy. The Kremlin's position is that sovereign states may pick their own trading partners, and that penalizing India for buying Russian oil is illegitimate[14][18]. Their stronger, less obvious argument is about plumbing: because most world trade is priced in dollars and cleared through U.S. banks, Washington can cut a country off from payment almost anywhere. Building payment channels in rubles, rupees and yuan is, in their telling, insurance against that chokepoint — not an attack on the dollar. For Iran, under U.S. sanctions for decades and recently at war, BRICS membership is also basic diplomatic oxygen.
WhyRussia wants BRICS to function as proof that sanctions have not isolated it, and to keep India as a buyer of its crude[13]. Putin's Delhi visit was his first to India since the Ukraine war began[3]. Iran wants the bloc's declaration to condemn unilateral military action, which put it at odds with the UAE during drafting[1][7].
Impact on themRussia's oil revenue depends on a small set of large buyers staying in the market. If India's February commitment to halt Russian purchases is fully carried out, Moscow loses one of its two biggest customers[8]. Indian refiners have already been buying more from the Middle East, Africa and South America to replace Russian barrels.
Frames it asChina presents itself as the defender of the existing trade rulebook, not its challenger — the argument being that it is Washington, imposing tariffs outside WTO procedures, that is breaking the system. Xi's stated asks are to "uphold multilateralism," "uphold openness and win-win cooperation to safeguard the international economic and trade order," and "uphold solidarity" for common development[11]. Beijing pairs this with its Global Development, Security and Civilization Initiatives, pitched as an alternative menu for the Global South[11].
WhyChina takes the BRICS chair in 2027 and wants a bigger, more institutionalized bloc to hand itself[11]. It also wants the India relationship stabilized: a Modi-Xi meeting in Delhi is worth more to Beijing as a picture of Asian reconciliation than any communiqué line.
Impact on themChina is the largest economy in the bloc and the main funder of alternative development lending through the New Development Bank. It is also itself a target of U.S. tariffs, so anything the group says about "unilateral measures" protects Beijing directly.
Frames it asThe core argument is that tariffs worked. Washington put a 25% penalty on India in August 2025 specifically over Russian oil, and by February 2026 India had signed an interim deal that, per the White House's own fact sheet, includes halting those purchases — in exchange for the rate dropping to 18%[8][9]. On this view, economic pressure did in months what years of diplomacy did not, and without U.S. troops. Supporters also argue the WTO complaint is hollow: a body that cannot settle disputes (its appeals court has been non-functional for years) is not a rulebook anyone is actually breaking. On BRICS itself, Trump has warned of steep tariffs on members that try to move off the dollar, framing de-dollarization as an attempt to take away a genuine American advantage[2].
WhyThe administration wants to show tariffs produce concrete concessions, and to deter a bloc payments system that would weaken U.S. sanctions reach. It also wants India kept close as a counterweight to China, which is why the rate came down rather than up.
Impact on themA visible Xi-Putin-Modi handshake in Delhi undercuts the claim that Russia is isolated and that India has been pulled into the U.S. orbit[2][3]. But no new U.S. tariff action against India is pending at this summit, and the unfinished trade deal gives Washington remaining leverage in the form of the preferential rate India is asking for[10].
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The Bias Ledger average rating 4.3
The same story, as framed by outlets across the spectrum, ordered least to most biased. The bias score (1 = straight, 10 = heavily spun) is an AI assessment of that framing — click an outlet to see its track record. The tell is the word choice or omission that reveals the angle.
| Outlet | Vantage | Bias | How they frame it | The tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reuters | international wire, U.S. center | 2 | "China's Xi Lands in Delhi for BRICS Summit and Talks With Modi" — arrival, red carpet, first visit in seven years, framed around the India-China thaw after the 2020 border clash[6]. | Event-first and low-adjective. The framing choice is which relationship is the story — Reuters makes it India-China normalization rather than BRICS-vs-Washington, which quietly downgrades the tariff angle. |
| Business Standard | Indian business daily | 2 | "Brics flags 'unilateral' tariffs, trade barriers as global risks," explicitly describing the statement as an "indirect swipe" at the United States[4]. | Unusually precise: it puts "unilateral" in quotes and labels the U.S. reference as indirect rather than stated. That is more accurate than headlines asserting the bloc criticized Washington by name. |
| CNBC | U.S. center, business | 3 | "Xi, Putin and Modi meet at BRICS summit amid Trump pressure"[2]. | "Amid Trump pressure" makes the U.S. president the organizing force of a summit he is not attending. It is a defensible read of the news hook, but it centers Washington in a meeting whose agenda — payments, development lending, AI — was set months earlier. |
| Al Jazeera | Qatari state-funded | 3 | "BRICS summit opens in New Delhi amid wars, global tensions, tariffs," with attention to internal splits including Iran-UAE friction over West Asia[1]. | Notably willing to report BRICS disunity, which cuts against the bloc-solidarity story. The tilt is in the ordering: wars first, tariffs last, keeping Middle East conflict at the center of a summit whose own headline output was economic. |
| Fox News | U.S. right | 5 | Putin, Xi and Iran's Pezeshkian "descend" on India for a "high-stakes BRICS summit amid escalating global tensions"; Modi "balances" Russia, China and Iran ties[3]. | "Descend" and the adversary roll-call put the emphasis on who showed up rather than what was agreed. It casts a scheduled annual summit as a gathering threat and frames India as a partner at risk of drifting, not a host running a trade agenda. |
| WION | Indian, nationalist-leaning | 7 | "BRICS Summit 2026: Trump must be watching amid pushbacks from member states on US tariffs, conflicts and energy trade." | "Trump must be watching" is the writer's speculation presented as the news peg. It converts a finance ministers' statement that named no country into a direct confrontation with a named American president. |
| Xinhua | Chinese state media | 8 | "From Bishkek to New Delhi, Xi advocates Global South cooperation" — Xi as champion of "genuine multilateralism" and common development[11]. | Frames Chinese policy entirely in the government's own slogan vocabulary (Global Development Initiative, win-win cooperation) with no dissenting voice. Omits China's own tariff and non-tariff barriers, and any BRICS internal disagreement. |
References
- BRICS summit opens in New Delhi amid wars, global tensions, tariffs — Al Jazeera · Qatari state-funded international broadcaster
- Xi, Putin and Modi meet at BRICS summit amid Trump pressure — CNBC · U.S. business news, NBCUniversal-owned, center
- Modi balances Russia, China and Iran ties at New Delhi BRICS summit — Fox News · U.S. right-leaning, Fox Corporation
- Brics flags 'unilateral' tariffs, trade barriers as global risks — Business Standard · Indian business daily, Business Standard Private Ltd
- BRICS finance ministers express serious concerns about raising tariffs, non-tariff measures — The Tribune · Indian daily, Tribune Trust (Chandigarh)
- China's Xi Lands in Delhi for BRICS Summit and Talks With Modi — Reuters · international wire service, Thomson Reuters
- BRICS Summit 2026: Consensus reached as leaders prepare to pass New Delhi joint declaration — Business Today · Indian business magazine, India Today Group
- Fact Sheet: The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal — The White House · U.S. executive branch — the administration's own account of its deal
- United States-India Joint Statement — The White House · U.S. executive branch, jointly agreed text with the Indian government
- India Says US Trade Deal Hinges on Preferential Tariff Rate — Bloomberg · U.S. financial news, Bloomberg LP
- From Bishkek to New Delhi, Xi advocates Global South cooperation — Xinhua · Chinese state news agency, controlled by the Communist Party of China
- BRICS Summit 2026 LIVE UPDATES: 'Global South in front row of global crises,' says Modi in opening remarks — ThePrint · Indian digital news outlet, editorially independent, center
- Modi, Putin Seek Stronger Ties as Russia Calls for BRICS to Counter West — Reuters · international wire service, Thomson Reuters
- BRICS: US tariffs amount to coercion that can cause uncertainty — The Tribune · Indian daily, Tribune Trust (Chandigarh)
- India-US trade deal cuts tariff on Indian exports to 18%: Piyush Goyal — NewsOnAir · Indian government broadcaster, Prasar Bharati — official state media
- 18th BRICS summit — Wikipedia · crowd-edited encyclopedia; used only for summit dates and venue
- BRICS Summit 2026: Modi, Putin and Pezeshkian Push For A New Global Economic Order — Outlook India · Indian newsmagazine, center-left domestically
- Kremlin slams Trump tariff pressure on India over Russian oil as illegal (August 2025) — Deccan Herald · Indian daily, The Printers (Mysore) Ltd