Chinese President Xi to visit India for BRICS summit
BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.
Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.
It emerged as an influential grouping as it brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5 per cent of the global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of the global trade.
In a media statement, the Ministry of External Affairs had said India's BRICS chairship is guided by the theme: 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', reflecting Prime Minister Modi's vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of 'Humanity First'.
India is a founding member of the BRICS and has previously held its chairship three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1. The year 2026 also marks a milestone as BRICS completes 20 years since its establishment.
Over the years, BRICS has steadily evolved into a comprehensive framework for cooperation across the three foundational pillars of political and security, economy and finance, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
