Cyril Ramaphosa leaves South Africa to attend BRICS Summit

India is expected to use this year’s BRICS Summit to push for stronger cooperation among developing nations, with a focus on resilience, innovation, sustainability and practical outcomes for the Global South.

Speaking ahead of the summit, High Commissioner of India to South Africa, Shri Prabhat Kumar, said the gathering will prioritise the concerns of the developing world.

“This year’s theme of the summit is resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability. This theme reflects the priorities of the Global South and the developing world,” he said. 

Theme emphasises economic resiliance

India’s theme emphasises economic resilience, innovation and digital cooperation, multilateral coordination, sustainable development, climate action and people-centred partnerships.

“Therefore, we will be prioritising all these issues, especially the concerns of the developing world, at this summit. We will ensure that the outcome document covers most of the issues affecting the developing world,” Kumar said.

As BRICS Chair in 2026, India will host the 18th BRICS Summit from 12 to 13 September 2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

The summit will provide a platform for dialogue, exchange of views and discussion on issues of mutual interest, further strengthening cooperation within BRICS.

Invitation

President Cyril Ramaphosa will represent South Africa at the summit at the invitation of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under India’s Chairship this year, more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across India to strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars: political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

“We had around 35 verticals, covering ministerial and other areas of cooperation. It is a whole gamut of issues being covered. Economic issues and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will also be discussed. These are the issues that will be highlighted at the summit.

“Other areas will also be covered, such as political cooperation, how we want our institutions of global governance to function, reforms, and the strengthening of multilateral cooperation. All of these issues also fall under resilience, innovation, and cooperation,” he said.

Kumar emphasised the importance of cooperation in international institutions, while noting that South Africa and India have collaborated significantly in multilateral forums.

“We also see good cooperation with South Africa on economic issues. So, these are the issues which I think will be important during the summit,” the High Commissioner said.

BRICS has expanded

Over the past two years, BRICS has expanded, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates becoming full members in January 2024, followed by Indonesia in January 2025.

Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam joined BRICS as partner countries in 2025.

“If you look at BRICS now, it has 11 members and 10 partner countries. We have invited outreach countries as well as heads of international institutions. It is a big summit. Its membership now comprises around 49% of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP, and around 24% of world trade and commerce. It has acquired weight and heft. We are looking for practical results

“As developing countries and emerging markets, we will focus on how we can cooperate for the future. That is what we will stress during our presidency of the grouping,” Kumar said.