Marcos arrives in India for BRICS Summit, seeks stronger ties

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrives at the Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi, India on Sept. 11, 2026 to attend the 18th BRICS Summit and meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Presidential Communications Office

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in New Delhi, India on Friday night, September 11, to attend the 18th BRICS Summit and meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Philippines seeks to deepen its strategic partnership with India.

Marcos, accompanied by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and several Cabinet officials, arrived at the Palam Air Force Station at 11:50 p.m. local time.

The September 12 to 13 summit will give Marcos an opportunity to present the Philippines’ priorities as this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to some of the world’s largest emerging economies.

The Philippines was invited to the summit as an “Outreach Country,” allowing it to participate in BRICS discussions despite not being a member of the bloc.

BRICS is an informal grouping of emerging economies originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Among the leaders expected to attend the summit are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Southeast Asian leaders attending include Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, whose country is a full BRICS member, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, whose countries are BRICS partners.

Marcos will attend the summit’s Open Session on September 13, where he is expected to highlight the Philippines’ priorities as ASEAN chair, including peace and security and development.

He is also expected to discuss issues affecting developing countries and emerging economies, as well as opportunities for greater cooperation in trade, investment, regional security and climate resilience.

In his departure statement, Marcos said the Philippines would push for fairer global governance, stronger disaster preparedness and the responsible use of new technologies.

“We will call for fairer global governance, stronger disaster preparedness, and the responsible use of new technologies, climate action, and the peaceful settlement of disputes under international law,” he said.

Marcos, Modi to review strategic partnership

Apart from the summit, Marcos is set to meet with Modi to review the progress of the Philippines-India Strategic Partnership, a year after his State Visit to India.

“Prime Minister Modi and I will review the progress in the implementation of the Five-Year Plan of Action for 2025 to 2029 that underpins our Strategic Partnership,” Marcos said.

The two leaders are expected to discuss defense and maritime cooperation, trade and investment, the proposed Preferential Trade Agreement, health and pharmaceuticals, digital cooperation, tourism, direct air connectivity and people-to-people ties.

Philippine Ambassador to India Josel Ignacio earlier said the two countries have made “rapid progress” on several commitments reached during Marcos’ August 2025 State Visit, when Manila and New Delhi elevated their relations to a Strategic Partnership.

These include service-to-service talks between the two countries’ armed forces and increased government and business exchanges in financial technology, agriculture and tourism.

Bilateral trade is approaching the $4-billion mark based on the latest available data, while Indian tourist arrivals in the Philippines are nearing pre-pandemic levels, Ignacio said.