Discuss the significance of India's Chairship of BRICS in 2026 in the context of a rapidly evolving multipolar world order.

India chaired BRICS for the fourth time in 2026, hosting the 18th Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi (12–13 September) under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" [1][2]. Coming amid deepening global fragmentation, the Chairship was less a ceremonial turn than an attempt to shape the terms of an emerging multipolar order.

Anchoring reformed multilateralism

• The Chairship carried forward India's long-standing demand for reform of global governance — UN Security Council and Bretton Woods institutions — which India pressed at the BRICS session on reforms of the multilateral system [3].
• The BRICS New Delhi Declaration gave the grouping's expanded membership a common written position, converting plurality into an agreed agenda [4].

Global South leadership

• With eleven member economies and participation by the UN Secretary-General and WHO Director-General, the Summit projected BRICS as a bridge rather than a bloc [2].
• India's framing of "Humanity First" positioned it as spokesperson for developing-country concerns on debt, climate finance and technology access [1].

Economic and innovation dimension

• The BRICS Bharat Innovates Exposition (11–12 September, Ministry of Education) showcased India's deep-tech and start-up strengths to partner economies, linking diplomacy to trade and investment [1].

Soft power and federal diplomacy

• Over 350 meetings across 25 cities during the Chairship year involved states and line ministries, deepening domestic stakes in foreign policy [1].
• The leaders' gala dinner, serving regional Indian cuisine, continued the culinary and cultural diplomacy template of the G20 New Delhi Summit [5].

Limitations

• Post-2024 expansion has diluted cohesion; divergent member interests, de-dollarisation debates and unresolved India–China friction constrain consensus, while India must simultaneously sustain its Western and Quad partnerships.

India's 2026 Chairship thus mattered less for dramatic outcomes than for steadying a widened grouping around reform, resilience and development. Sustaining this requires India to keep BRICS issue-based and non-confrontational, using it alongside the Quad and G20 as complementary platforms. Used thus, the Chairship advances India's vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and a genuinely representative, rules-based multipolar order.