BRICS may put trade, tech and energy in focus

By Sohail Khan 10 September 2026, 12:21 pm

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BRICS 2026: From bigger to better? The New Delhi summit may put trade, tech and energy in focus
Synopsis

BRICS 2026 will test whether the expanded 11-member grouping can translate its growing economic and geopolitical weight into practical cooperation. With trade, payments, startups, AI, energy, critical minerals and climate finance on the agenda, India’s presidency faces a tougher challenge: building consensus among members whose strategic interests often diverge.

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BRICS preps — India’s BRICS 2026 presidency will seek practical cooperation on trade, technology, energy and finance while testing whether an increasingly diverse 11-member bloc can overcome geopolitical differences and act collectively.

New Delhi is preparing to host a BRICS summit that is as much about what the 11-member grouping can agree on as what it cannot.

As leaders of major energy powers, manufacturing economies, consumer markets and developing nations converge at Bharat Mandapam on September 12-13, India will try to turn a much-expanded BRICS from a forum with growing heft into one capable of delivering practical cooperation.

Also read: BRICS Summit in New Delhi: The grande finale is India's moment to navigate a bigger, and more divided bloc

The stakes are unusually high. BRICS now spans Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia, after its expansion in 2024 and 2025. The grouping also has 10 partner countries. Collectively, its members account for nearly half the world's population and a substantial share of global output and trade, giving the bloc considerable potential influence over trade, energy, finance and technology.

India's 2026 chairship, built around “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” and the broader vision of “Humanity First”, is therefore expected to push BRICS beyond political coordination towards practical cooperation in startups, resilient supply chains, green energy, digital technology, trade and development finance.

But there is a catch: the bigger BRICS gets, the harder consensus becomes.

That tension will hang over the summit as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts Russian President Vladimir Putin and a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit will also bring together Gulf energy powers, Iran and other members whose strategic interests do not always align.

Trade without the tariff headache

For India, one of the clearest priorities is likely to be making trade between BRICS economies easier, cheaper and more resilient.

The bloc is working on a BRICS Global Value Chains Action Plan for 2026-30, with New Delhi looking at ways to strengthen trade corridors, reduce transaction costs and make customs procedures easier. India has also proposed an invoice-discounting mechanism aimed at easing trade-finance constraints for micro, small and medium enterprises, along with a BRICS MSME Cooperation Portal connecting technology centres, financial institutions, training bodies and policymakers.

Supply chains are likely to get particular attention as tariffs, wars and energy disruptions put pressure on global commerce. A BRICS Logistics Supply-Chain Cooperation Framework could emerge as one of the summit's practical outcomes, aimed at improving the resilience, efficiency and sustainability of transport logistics and supply chains across member economies.

The logic is straightforward: the expanded grouping contains both major energy exporters and huge energy-consuming economies, alongside manufacturing hubs and fast-growing markets. That creates scope for deeper intra-BRICS trade and investment, even if members remain competitors in several sectors.

India is also expected to push for greater use of national currencies in bilateral trade. But New Delhi has drawn a line between making cross-border payments more efficient and pursuing an explicitly anti-dollar project.

Also read: BRICS by BRICS: India's journey from seeking reforms to shaping global order

India does not favour a common BRICS currency. Instead, its focus is on local-currency settlement, payment interoperability and reducing dependence on costly dollar-based intermediaries. The RBI has also proposed linking the digital currencies of BRICS countries to facilitate cross-border trade and tourism payments.

The issue is politically sensitive. Russia has said it does not seek “de-dollarisation”, even as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said around 90% of transactions between Russia and BRICS countries are conducted in national currencies.

Startups, AI and the technology race

If trade is one pillar, technology is emerging as another.

India wants the summit to give greater institutional shape to cooperation on startups, artificial intelligence, financial technology and digital public infrastructure. A proposed BRICS Startup Innovation Fund could mobilise voluntary public and private financing for scalable startup-led solutions, while a digital interface could connect national nodal agencies, incubators and startups across member countries.

India has also proposed a BRICS Incubator Network to link startup incubators across member economies. On the digital side, the agenda includes a proposed BRICS Digital Public Infrastructure Repository to share knowledge and test scalable DPI solutions.

Artificial intelligence could become an especially important part of the conversation. Amitabh Kant, former G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog chief, said ahead of the summit that BRICS must confront AI as a major driver of global growth while establishing frameworks for its responsible use.

Kant has also argued that India should use its engagement with China to press for greater transfer of clean-energy technologies to other BRICS partners, amid concerns over concentration in technologies such as batteries and other clean-energy supply chains.

That makes technology a bridge between several strands of India's BRICS agenda: trade, energy security, climate action, manufacturing and development.

Also read: India set to host expanded BRICS summit as global trade, finance and governance take centre stage

Green energy, critical minerals and the finance gap

Energy may offer the enlarged BRICS one of its clearest areas of common interest.

The grouping now includes Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, alongside India and China, creating an unusual combination of major energy producers and some of the world's largest consumers. India's energy agenda has consequently sought to combine security and affordability with the transition towards cleaner sources.

The BRICS Energy Ministers' Meeting in June advanced cooperation on smart grids, energy storage and hydrogen, while discussions also covered renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture, digitalisation, energy efficiency and critical minerals. A BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage was launched.

Critical minerals could become particularly important because they sit at the intersection of climate policy, energy security and economic sovereignty. The 2025 Rio de Janeiro Declaration recognised their importance to low-emission technologies and called for reliable, diversified and resilient supply chains, while stressing value addition and economic diversification in resource-rich countries.

Climate finance is the other half of that conversation.

India's chairship is seeking greater attention to green finance, climate resilience and sustainable development, with the broader BRICS climate agenda covering adaptation, technology, critical-mineral supply chains and affordable energy. The New Development Bank could consequently assume a larger role in financing climate-related development, according to the inputs reviewed.

The question for New Delhi is whether calls for greater climate finance can be translated into mechanisms that actually deliver affordable capital to developing economies.

The China-Russia-Gulf balancing act

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