BRICS Leaders Issue New Delhi Declaration Urging Multilateral Reform

Leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping adopted the New Delhi Declaration at their 18th summit held in India on September 12–13, 2026. Marking the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation, the declaration reaffirmed commitments to multilateralism, the central role of the United Nations, and the three-pillar framework spanning political security, economy and finance, and people-to-people exchanges. The text emphasizes greater representation for emerging markets and developing countries in global decision-making, while calling for equitable geographical representation and higher female representation across the UN Secretariat and other international bodies.

As BRICS operates as an expanded bloc, its consensus declaration demonstrates an aligned diplomatic stance on reforming post-war international governance institutions. The group's explicit push for broader developing-nation leadership and quotas within the United Nations Secretariat indicates a coordinated strategy to reshape international civil service leadership and challenge traditional Western institutional predominance.

Leaders of the BRICS nations gathered in New Delhi, India, on September 12–13, 2026, for the 18th BRICS Summit, adopting a joint declaration that outlines the bloc's priorities for global governance and institutional reform. The summit, convened under the theme of building a resilient, innovative, collaborative, and sustainable BRICS, marked the 20th anniversary of the partnership mechanism, according to official texts published by Chinese state media outlets. The declaration reiterates the group's commitment to its foundational principles, including mutual respect, sovereign equality, solidarity, openness, and consensus-based decision-making. Following recent membership expansion, the leaders committed to strengthening cooperation across the established three pillars: political and security affairs, economy and finance, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The text commended India's chairship, which included hosting over 400 meetings and events across 30 cities, as well as conducting outreach and BRICS Plus dialogues to engage broader emerging economies. A central focus of the declaration is the reform of the international multilateral architecture. BRICS leaders reaffirmed their adherence to multilateralism, the advancement of multipolarity, and the preservation of international law rooted in the principles of the United Nations Charter. The text explicitly defended the central coordinating role of the United Nations in international peace, security, and sustainable development, while advocating a more agile, legitimate, and democratic multilateral system that reflects contemporary geopolitical realities. Significantly, the leaders called for expanded and meaningful participation of emerging markets and developing countries in global decision-making mechanisms. The declaration gave particular emphasis to increasing the voice of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and least developed countries. It also called for timely implementation of equitable geographical representation within the United Nations Secretariat and other international bodies, alongside efforts to enhance female representation across diverse organizational tiers and positions.