Zhang Xiaoyu
The 18th BRICS summit will open in New Delhi on September 12 to 13. India holds the rotating chairmanship this year under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The gathering comes as BRICS marks two decades since its members first sat down as a political grouping. It also comes at a moment when China-India relations have regained positive momentum. A successful summit will show whether the two largest developing countries can turn high-level consensus into practical cooperation that serves the Global South.
In 2001, the acronym BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill as an economic term for major emerging markets. In 2006, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The first leaders’ summit took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, which exposed structural flaws in Western-dominated global financial governance. South Africa was formally admitted to the grouping in 2010 and officially joined the cooperation mechanism in 2011, turning BRIC into BRICS.
The grouping’s purpose was never to replace the existing international system, but to make it fairer. Emerging economies wanted a louder voice in the IMF and World Bank, more South-South development finance, and room to pursue their own modernization paths. Institution-building followed. At the 2014 Fortaleza Summit, members agreed to establish the New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. The NDB has since become a working alternative for infrastructure and sustainable-development lending in local currencies as well as dollars.
At the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and others were invited to join. Indonesia later in 2025 joined as a full member, and a partner-country track was also set up. Today, “Greater BRICS” represents a large share of the world’s population and a rising share of global output.
China and India have not always agreed on every issue, yet they have continued to work together within BRICS even when bilateral ties were strained.
First, they have helped build institutions rather than merely attend meetings. Both are major shareholders of the New Development Bank. Indian and Chinese officials have served in its leadership. The bank’s project pipeline in energy, transport, water and urban infrastructure has given member states options beyond traditional lenders. Local-currency financing, which both countries support in principle, reduces exchange-rate risk for borrowers in the Global South.
Second, they have treated BRICS as a venue for economic and financial coordination, not only communiqués. Work on cross-border payments, linking national systems such as China’s CIPS and India’s UPI, exploring interoperability of fast-payment rails and central-bank digital currencies, reflects a shared interest in cheaper, faster settlement among developing economies.
Third, BRICS has given the two countries a structured way to talk about global governance, climate, public health, counter-terrorism, and food and energy security. Ministerial tracks, working groups and the BRICS Business Council have kept officials and businesses in contact. When leaders met on the margins of the 2024 Kazan Summit and later at the SCO, they could point to a multilateral record of cooperation rather than starting from zero.
Fourth, political signaling has mattered. China has publicly supported India as 2026 chair and has said it is ready to work for a successful New Delhi summit. India has indicated support for China taking the chair in 2027. That rotation is how BRICS is supposed to work.
High-level exchange can consolidate the thaw that began with the 2024 Kazan meeting and continued through subsequent special-representative talks and people-to-people steps.
On the bilateral side, the task is clear: enhance mutual trust, dispel misgivings and properly handle sensitive issues, including the boundary question.
Looking further ahead, China will assume the BRICS chairmanship in 2027. Continuity between India’s 2026 priorities and China’s 2027 agenda would send a powerful message, in which the two countries can hand the baton. As the two largest developing nations and two ancient civilizations, China and India have a responsibility that goes beyond their own border. When the two greatest civilizations tango, and work together as partners, Asia is more stable and the Global South has a stronger voice.
The author is director of the South Asian Communication Studies Centre at the Academy of International and Regional Communication Studies, Communication University of China. She writes for Chinese media outlets including the Global Times, a leading English-language newspaper in China.
