The central theme of the BRICS summit in New Delhi was the restructuring of the world system - from reform of the UN Security Council and international financial institutions to new trade rules. The Russian president drew a line under the unipolar world: the balance of power is being redistributed in favor of the Global South and East. RIA Novosti reports on the results of the forum's main day.
Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi hold talks not only at the table. Sometimes also on the road. Such joint trips are called "automobile diplomacy". In New Delhi the heads of state met for the second time in two weeks, embraced and exchanged gifts.
Modi prepared for his guest the sacred book of Tamil wisdom, the "Tirukkural". He thus continued a tradition: last December he had already given Putin a book - the "Bhagavad Gita" in Russian.
After the bilateral meeting the presidents traveled in one car to an international industrial exhibition. And, according to Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, in that format they continued to discuss the most important and acute issues. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov considers joint trips an indicator of the special level of relations between the heads of state.
From bilateral dialogue to the common BRICS agenda. On the second day of the summit, the focus was on further prospects and reform of the global governance system.
Opening the plenary session, Modi proposed moving to decisive action. "The time has come to transform our unity and consensus within BRICS into tangible results on the world stage," he said.
And he called for forming a new ambitious BRICS agenda for the next 20 years, as well as creating a mechanism for continuity and implementation of decisions taken.
Modi considers reform of the global governance system the main challenge. In his view, ten initiatives must be developed jointly and then formalized into a roadmap that could be prepared for the next summit.
The current system, he said, resembles a pyramid where power and decision-making are concentrated at the top and no one is able to influence it. The pyramid of privileges should be turned into a platform of partnership where every country has the right to a voice, he is convinced.
Modi also called for not postponing reform of the UN Security Council - negotiations must be tied to specific deadlines and clear results.
The Russian president continued this theme. He called BRICS one of the key centers of global governance: a third of the planet and 40 percent of world GDP, almost half of humanity.
The world is undergoing large-scale geopolitical, economic, technological and social changes. "Much is changing - and above all people's way of life, the level of medicine, the quality of the environment; the structure of society and the demographic map of the world are being transformed," Putin noted.
The unipolar system of international relations is receding into the past. The balance of power is being redistributed in favor of new centers of growth in the Global South and East.
However, the formation of a multipolar world is not easy. Strong resistance is offered by those accustomed to thinking in colonial categories, to "dividing the world into a blooming garden and wild jungle, living at others' expense".
"They are not ready to accept the changing reality and seek to restrain growing competitors by every means," the Russian president said. Tariff wars, illegitimate sanctions, attempts at economic dictatorship, blackmail, interference in internal affairs and simply brute force are being used.
Against this backdrop, Putin called for strengthening multilateralism and expanding the participation of states in global governance. And here the theme of the UN, raised by Modi, was heard again.
Russia attaches exceptionally great importance to preserving the central role of this organization in world affairs, and considers its charter the key source of international law. At the same time, Moscow favors expanding the Security Council with representatives of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
"We consider it necessary to continue, together with like-minded BRICS partners, to promote improvement of the quality of the UN's work," Putin stressed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping continued the same line. The next BRICS summit, in 2027, will be held in China.
Xi's very arrival in New Delhi is extremely important. Relations between Beijing and New Delhi deteriorated significantly after clashes on the Line of Control in the Himalayas in 2020. However, in 2025 Modi made his first visit to China in seven years. After that the powers resumed direct flights and cross-border trade.
And now Xi has arrived in New Delhi and spoken at the summit. According to him, BRICS has already become the world's most influential platform for cooperation among countries with emerging market economies.
"BRICS states must be the first in improving global governance," Xi said. It is also necessary to play a leading role in maintaining peace and stimulating innovation.
China proposed an initiative to promote new industrialization with the help of artificial intelligence technologies. Beijing is ready to cooperate with BRICS countries to obtain research and applied results, as well as to deepen interaction in production and logistics chains.
Technological development, however, also requires updating global economic mechanisms. Vladimir Putin pointed this out.
The question of improving the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO is long overdue, the Russian president said. These institutions were created in completely different political and economic realities and are finding it difficult to adapt to a situation where business activity is increasingly shifting toward emerging markets.
The IMF, WTO and World Bank remain important channels of dialogue between leading economies, so BRICS countries need to strengthen coordination in their work, Putin added. At the same time, it is important to develop their own financial mechanisms - in particular, the BRICS New Development Bank.
A separate meeting between the Russian president and the head of the bank, Dilma Rousseff, was devoted to this. "I look to the future very optimistically," she said, explaining that the bank had found a way to eliminate "deep injustice" toward Moscow.
Rousseff stressed that Russia has always played a decisive role, and expressed confidence that the bank's projects will benefit everyone. Putin, in turn, assured that Russia favors expanding the membership of the BRICS New Development Bank.
The summit also became a platform for bilateral contacts for Putin. The Russian president's busy program included a whole series of meetings with foreign leaders.
On Saturday - talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. And before that - with Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Agreeing the final declaration was not easy: as Yuri Ushakov reported, the situation around Iran caused certain friction.
"I think we will reach consensus, it seems so to me," he replied to a question about disagreements over the wording "war against Iran". In the end, the heads of state and government of the BRICS countries adopted the 2026 Delhi Declaration. "No one raised objections," Modi noted.
The document expressed concern over growing risks of nuclear war and called for strengthening arms control and non-proliferation. It also called for the speedy implementation of resolutions on creating a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. It warned against an arms race in space, called for lifting illegal unilateral sanctions and recognized the prospects of artificial intelligence in stimulating economic growth.
Summing up the session, the Indian prime minister noted that "it is impossible to manage a changing world with old institutions". Changes are needed in three areas at once: representation, the ability to respond to challenges and the formation of rules.
The main day of the summit ended with Vladimir Putin and other BRICS leaders planting a banyan tree together in the square of the Bharat Mandapam convention and exhibition center. The banyan, with one of the largest crowns among trees, symbolizes the pooling of BRICS countries' efforts for the future.