Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has arrived in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, as India prepares to host senior leaders and representatives from the expanded grouping amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and continuing uncertainty surrounding Iran’s relations with the United States.
The two-day BRICS summit is scheduled for September 12 and 13 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, with India holding the group’s 2026 chairmanship. The Indian government said its chairmanship is guided by the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” with an emphasis on people-centred and development-oriented cooperation.
Pezeshkian’s participation places Iran’s regional security concerns among the issues expected to attract attention during the high-level gathering. The summit comes against the backdrop of tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel, as well as concerns surrounding maritime security and freedom of navigation in the wider Gulf region.
The Iranian president is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. Modi previously met Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek on August 31, where the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and developments in the West Asia conflict. India said at the time that Modi stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy and called for the protection of civilian infrastructure, commercial shipping and seafarers.
Pezeshkian’s arrival is part of a broader gathering of influential leaders from the expanded BRICS grouping and its partner countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also arrived in New Delhi ahead of the summit, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend and meet Modi. Xi’s visit is significant because it is expected to be his first trip to India in about seven years.
Putin and Modi held bilateral discussions in New Delhi on Friday, with trade, energy and defence cooperation among the issues under consideration. Their meeting came as India continues to maintain extensive economic and strategic relations with Russia despite Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The BRICS summit is expected to bring together representatives from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. According to Indian officials, the gathering will focus on strengthening cooperation among member and partner countries while addressing global and regional issues of common interest.
The expanded BRICS grouping now comprises 11 member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi Arabia’s status has been described differently by some sources, with the Financial Times reporting that Riyadh was invited to join and attends BRICS meetings but has not formally completed accession.
The bloc also has a growing group of partner countries, reflecting its effort to broaden cooperation beyond its core membership. Partner countries include Nigeria, Malaysia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, among others. The expanded grouping represents a substantial share of the global population and economy, giving the New Delhi summit significance beyond the participating countries’ individual bilateral relationships.
The summit is taking place at a time when BRICS members face significant differences over international conflicts, trade, relations with the United States and the future of the global financial system. The war in Ukraine and tensions involving Iran are expected to feature prominently in discussions, although the diverse interests of the member states could make consensus on geopolitical questions difficult.
Economic cooperation is also expected to remain a major focus. Proposals under consideration include a BRICS Incubator Network, a startup innovation fund and a logistics and supply-chain cooperation framework. The initiatives are intended to strengthen economic links, entrepreneurship and resilience among participating countries.
India has described its 2026 BRICS chairmanship as an opportunity to advance practical cooperation across three broad areas: political and security affairs, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Indian officials said more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements had been organised in more than 25 cities during the country’s chairmanship year.
For Pezeshkian, the New Delhi visit provides an opportunity to engage directly with India and other major emerging economies at a time when Iran is facing considerable geopolitical pressure. It also offers Tehran a platform to strengthen relationships with countries that have maintained diplomatic and economic engagement with Iran despite pressure from Washington.
The presence of Putin, Pezeshkian and Xi alongside Modi also underlines the growing geopolitical importance of the BRICS platform. Analysts say the expanded group has considerable economic weight but faces internal divisions over the direction it should take and the extent to which it should challenge the existing international order.
With the summit set to formally take place on September 12 and 13, attention will now focus on the bilateral meetings, economic proposals and possible joint positions emerging from the gathering. For India, the summit provides an opportunity to demonstrate its leadership of the expanded bloc while balancing its relationships with Russia, China, Iran, the United States and other major global powers.
