BRICS Summit 2026: How India is trying to shape a multipolar world without choosing sides

India's BRICS presidency comes at a time when the global balance of power is changing rapidly. The September 12–13 summit in New Delhi is not just another meeting of emerging economies. It will test how India manages its relationships with China and Russia while keeping its strategic space open with the United States. For China and Russia, BRICS has increasingly become a platform to push for a more multipolar world and reduce Western dominance. But India has a different calculation. New Delhi wants a stronger voice for the Global South, greater cooperation among developing economies and reforms in global institutions, but it does not want BRICS to become an anti-US alliance.

Recent analysis has also highlighted the differences within the grouping, with India and Brazil favouring a more practical and economic approach. That puts India in a delicate position. China remains India's biggest strategic challenge, even as both sides work to stabilise ties after years of border tensions. Russia, meanwhile, remains a critical partner for India in energy, defence and other strategic areas. At the same time, the US remains an important economic and strategic partner for New Delhi.

Also Read: BRICS Summit 2026: Delhi Police traffic advisory, affected roads and travel tips for commuters. All you need to know

The presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Delhi would therefore give the summit an added geopolitical weight. The fact that India, China and Russia have appeared together at the SCO just weeks before the BRICS summit makes the coming meetings even more significant. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the challenge is not to choose one side over another. It is to make sure India can work with all sides without becoming dependent on any one of them.

This is where India's idea of strategic autonomy becomes important. New Delhi wants BRICS to speak for the Global South on issues such as development, trade, technology, climate change and reform of global institutions. But it also wants to prevent the grouping from being defined mainly by opposition to Washington.

The question at the Delhi summit, therefore, will be bigger than whether BRICS can challenge the West. Can India help create a more multipolar world without becoming part of a China-Russia-led geopolitical camp? That may be the biggest test of India's BRICS presidency, and of its foreign policy in an increasingly divided world.