The 18th BRICS Summit is set to open in Indian capital New Delhi on Saturday, marking the 20th anniversary of the grouping, which has expanded to 11 member countries and 10 partner countries.

The weekend gathering has drawn worldwide attention amid high-level visits from leaders of China, Russia, Iran and other members and partner countries.
In the days leading up to the event, Global Times reporters observed the city gearing up with BRICS posters and a heavy security presence of patrols. Many local citizens are aware of the gathering, with taxi drivers and other residents discussing the upcoming summit. Hotels near the venue, Bharat Mandapam, are almost fully booked.

Under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", this year's summit will bring together leaders of BRICS members and partner countries, as well as other prominent invitees, at Bharat Mandapam to discuss practical cooperation on topics including energy and food security, local-currency payments, technology, supply chains, and reforms to multilateral institutions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday.

At Friday's press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that BRICS is the key platform for solidarity and cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries. 

"China sets great store by and actively participates in BRICS cooperation. President Xi will attend and address the upcoming summit, have in-depth exchanges with other leaders on major issues including the current international situation, the development of BRICS mechanisms, and deepening practical cooperation, and put forward China's important initiatives and propositions, charting the course for the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation," Mao said.   

"China is ready to work with fellow BRICS countries for steady and sustained progress in greater BRICS cooperation to contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity," she stressed.


Expanding cooperation

According to China's Foreign Ministry, China and India are arranging for the bilateral meeting between President Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be the third year in a row for the two leaders to meet, following their meetings in Kazan and Tianjin. 

"China will work with India to act on the strategic guidance of the two leaders, handle bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, step up communication, enhance cooperation, properly handle differences, and be friends enjoying good-neighborliness and partners helping each other succeed," Mao stressed on Friday.

"This visit can be seen as an important step in the continuation of high-level exchanges between the two sides, indicating that China-India relations have formed a good momentum of improvement and providing impetus for the continued development of bilateral relations," Xu Feibiao, researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations and director of the BRICS and G20 Research Center, told the Global Times on Friday. 

Antara Ghosal Singh, China Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, told the Global Times on Friday that President Xi's visit at the BRICS summit represents "a major development, symbolic of China-India ties finally turning a corner." 

"If India and China can speak in one voice, the world will have to listen," she said, adding that closer China-India cooperation would be positive not only for the Global South, but also for global peace and prosperity.

At this summit, the Middle East crisis and energy issues are expected to be among the hot topics of concern. Mao said on Friday that "China advocates a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable approach to security. We are committed to promoting the political settlement of hotspot issues through dialogue."

BRICS countries now account for nearly half of the world's population, around 30 percent of the global economy and one-fifth of global trade, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. 

Singh noted that against the backdrop of growing global uncertainty, particularly uncertainties stemming from US tariff policies, it is increasingly important for mechanisms such as BRICS to function effectively. "BRICS can play a very important role in hedging against this trend," Singh said.

Regarding the main highlights of this summit, Xu told the Global Times that attention can be focused on three aspects.

"First is the participating leaders and their interactions. The attendance of important leaders is itself a signal that has drawn high attention from the international community. What interactions will take place among the leaders of major countries is a major highlight of this summit," he said.

Second is what outcomes the summit will ultimately achieve, including what important cooperation initiatives will be put forward in it. Third is the extension of "greater BRICS cooperation," according to Xu.

He believes that this summit is likely to achieve relatively rich outcomes. Among them, economic and trade cooperation is one of the important areas. In areas such as health, climate, environment, industrial cooperation, and agriculture, new cooperation outcomes are also expected to take shape, Xu said. 


'Stabilizing force' and 'mainstay'

When China was the BRICS chair back in 2017, Xi proposed the "BRICS Plus" cooperation model at the ninth BRICS Summit in Xiamen, calling for getting more emerging markets and developing countries to become involved in the group's concerted endeavors for cooperation and mutual benefits, Xinhua reported. 

In October 2024, the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, marked the first BRICS leaders' offline summit since the group's expansion.

Singh told the Global Times that stronger cooperation and coordination under the BRICS framework serves the interests of Global South countries by helping them safeguard their interests in an increasingly uncertain international environment. "From this perspective, China-India cooperation within BRICS is of utmost importance," she said.

In recent years, more and more countries have expressed willingness to join BRICS, become BRICS partner countries, or strengthen cooperation within the BRICS mechanism. "One important reason is that China's economic scale, economic structure and development potential occupy a pivotal position in BRICS cooperation," Xu said.

China is not only an important participant in BRICS cooperation, but also an important provider of solutions.

Tian Xuan, dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, told the Global Times on Friday that China has played an important leading role in the development of the BRICS mechanism in terms of conceptual guidance, institutional construction and practical cooperation.

Xu said that to summarize China's role in the BRICS mechanism in one sentence, China plays the role of a "stabilizing force" and "mainstay." 

Foad Izadi, associate professor at the University of Tehran in Iran, told the Global Times that as one of the new members of BRICS, Iran has been part of the organization for nearly three years. In the past, integration into BRICS cooperation was of great significance to Iran, and now it is even more critical, which is why Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian chose to go to New Delhi and participate in the 18th BRICS Summit, he said. 

"China's influence in BRICS is decisive by virtue of its excellent governance capacity and long-term planning. For the vast number of BRICS member states, the rise of China's global status and the consolidation of cooperation with China are of positive significance. Their relationship with China is one of cooperation far outweighing competition," Izadi said.

"We look forward to China's development and strength. Every step forward that China and the BRICS organization in which it participates take in the global governance system allows the Global South to take another step forward," the Iranian expert said.

With the summit approaching, Global Times reporters observed crowds gathering near key venues and red carpets being rolled out across New Delhi. Though the lingering heat of summer still hangs in the air, the city stands fully prepared to host the leaders for two days of discussions aimed at advancing greater BRICS cooperation.