BRICS Summit is a ‘large logistical exercise’, 1300 Journalists expected, MEA official says

India is making final arrangements for the 18th BRICS Summit this weekend, with officials describing the gathering as a large-scale logistical operation designed to keep New Delhi functioning while hosting an expanded bloc of leaders, partners and journalists.

Vasudev Ravi, Officer on Special Duty for Press Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, said the leaders’ meetings would take place on 12 and 13 September at Bharat Mandapam. “On 12th, of course, we’ve put the detailed programme out earlier in the day. 12th is the day when member countries would be having their engagement, and 13th would be the day where partner and invitee countries would be involved,” he said.

India has held the BRICS chairship through 2026 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. Officials say more than 350 meetings have already been held across the country. The summit itself, Ravi argued, is the most visible test of that year-long effort.

“In terms of organisation of the summit, it is a large logistical exercise for us,” he said. The work has been shared by the Ministry of External Affairs, other government departments, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi Police. “The challenge, of course, is when large delegations come, and which is also the reason why the summit is being held on a weekend.”

The Delhi government has declared Friday 11 September a holiday. Ravi said the day would also be used for side events leading into the summit. “We hope that this exercise that we’ve been undertaking with our colleagues in other ministries in the Government of India over the last few months will lead to a successful summit on the 12th and 13th.”

Coverage will be centred on an International Media Centre inside the Bharat Mandapam complex, run by MEA’s External Publicity Division. Ravi said the proximity of the press facility to the summit venue was deliberate. “We expect about 12 to 1,300 journalists in total to be present at the International Media Center on a daily basis during the summit.”

He estimated a roughly even split between Indian and foreign reporters. “We expect, I think, a 50-50 ratio, where about 600 to 700 journalists representing domestic outlets and about 600 to 700 journalists representing foreign outlets [will] be present.” Most visiting journalists, he said, were from BRICS members, partner countries or invitee states, with additional participation from international outlets already based in Delhi.

Indian missions abroad have been asked to amplify the chairship in local languages. “A lot of our missions and consulates have used local languages to highlight what our presidency has been about, what is the message that we are trying to send across with our priorities for the summit,” Ravi said. “It has been a coordinated exercise, and of course it is our motive to reach out to as many people as we can.”

Dedicated BRICS handles have been set up on X, Facebook and Instagram, alongside MEA accounts on YouTube, SoundCloud, Flickr and Snapchat. A dedicated website, brics2026.gov.in, lists meetings held across India. Officials have also issued a QR code linking to summit information.

“I think our effort has been to make communication easier for those who are keen on following us,” Ravi said. “A combination of all this would definitely stand you on good ground in terms of gathering information.”

The summit comes as BRICS marks two decades since its founding and now includes 11 members plus partner countries.