Story perspectives

Modi, Xi Pledge Economic Deals at BRICS Summit

By Drooid · Sep 16, 2026, 2:01 AM UTC · How we work

Center

AI-zone Proposals

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12 September 2026.
They pledged concrete economic initiatives, including AI-zone proposals and local-currency trade settlement, while India halted a payment-bridge link with Alipay+.
Bilateral trade hit a record $155.6 billion in 2025, leaving India with a $100 billion deficit.
The joint declaration condemned unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures.

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Watered down Declaration

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12 September 2026.
The 45-page New Delhi Declaration was deliberately watered-down, omitting Ukraine, Israel-Gaza and the United States while stressing broad equity language.
Xi Jinping departed Delhi within 24 hours, skipping the gala dinner attended by Modi.
India’s diplomatic team brokered consensus by reconciling Iran’s and United Arab Emirates’ opposing positions.

History

Historical Context

Since the first BRICS summit in Yekaterinburg in June 2009, the bloc has expanded—adding South Africa in 2010 and Indonesia in 2025—and now meets annually. The 2026 New Delhi summit, hosted by Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping, follows the 2024 Kazan meeting that marked the debut of BRICS+, while intra-BRICS trade reached $614.8 billion in 2022, underscoring the drive for deeper economic cooperation.

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AI-zone Proposals

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12 September 2026.
They pledged concrete economic initiatives, including AI-zone proposals and local-currency trade settlement, while India halted a payment-bridge link with Alipay+.
Bilateral trade hit a record $155.6 billion in 2025, leaving India with a $100 billion deficit.
The joint declaration condemned unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures.

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