NEW DELHI: In a striking display of solidarity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday led heads of state, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as they walked together along the red carpet at the BRICS Business Forum 2026 in New Delhi.
Modi was seen holding hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as the leaders walked through the summit venue, with the official “BRICS INDIA 2026” branding prominently displayed. The visual came a day before the formal opening of the 18th BRICS Summit and highlighted the grouping’s emphasis on closer cooperation among its expanded membership.
Addressing the Leaders’ Session of the BRICS Business Forum, Pezeshkian said the grouping’s strength lay not merely in the size of its economies but in translating their economic capabilities into practical cooperation through trade, investment and joint financing.
“We believe that the true strength of BRICS is not confined merely to the size of its members’ economies; rather, it becomes more apparent when these capacities are transformed into a network of trade, investment and joint financing,” the Iranian President said.
He said geopolitical uncertainty, supply-chain disruptions and the increasing use of economic instruments for political pressure had made the global economic environment increasingly complex, and called for a stronger BRICS response to these challenges.
Modi, meanwhile, highlighted the growing economic weight of the grouping and its expanding role in global innovation and solutions. He said BRICS nations account for around 50 per cent of the world’s population, 40 per cent of global GDP and more than 25 per cent of global trade.
The Prime Minister said the combined GDP of BRICS countries had expanded nearly four-and-a-half times over a period in which global GDP grew approximately two-and-a-half times, reflecting the rapid growth of the grouping’s economic strength. He also described the India-hosted gathering as the largest BRICS Business Forum to date.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of reliable business-to-business ties and economic partnerships, describing them as the backbone of international economic relations and a means of building stronger and more resilient global partnerships.
Putin said the world was undergoing “structural, deep, profound shifts”, with emerging engines of growth increasingly playing a larger role in the global economy while traditional economic powers continued to retain substantial strengths, infrastructure and scientific capabilities.
The BRICS Business Forum serves as the grouping’s flagship private-sector platform and brings together business leaders, ministers and heads of state to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development. Its recommendations also contribute to the agenda-setting process of BRICS, particularly in areas such as intra-BRICS trade, investment, digital economy, MSMEs, standards cooperation and value-chain integration.
The forum is being held as India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 chairship, guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The grouping currently comprises 11 countries — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE.
India’s chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures, with New Delhi seeking to translate BRICS’ expanded representation into stronger cooperation and tangible outcomes.
