Published: 11:33 PM, 09 September 2026
India Vies With China for Wider Global South Influence at BRICS
New Delhi is all set to host the BRICS Summit from 11 to 13 September 2026. -Reuters
India will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi this week under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," with Chinese President Xi Jinping expected to attend.
Chinese analysts are watching how India navigates its competing interests with Beijing and whether cooling ties with Washington give India greater incentive to expand its diplomatic influence across the Global South.
U.S.-India relations fell to a historic low in 2025 after the Trump administration imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods and claimed credit for ending an India-Pakistan conflict.
Xi's visit would be his first to India in seven years and another sign of the gradual thaw following the deadly 2020 Himalayan border clash. The two sides reached a border patrol agreement in 2024, ending a four-year military standoff. In August 2025, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Xi on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin. Direct flights later resumed, and New Delhi relaxed some restrictions on Chinese investment earlier this year.
However, the thaw remains fragile. The border dispute is unresolved, and reports of a fresh patrol confrontation in Arunachal Pradesh in July have renewed tensions. India has also pressed China to improve market access and address a bilateral trade deficit exceeding $100 billion.
In a recent analysis for China-U.S. Focus, a commentary platform published by the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation, Wang Youming, a BRICS specialist at the China Institute of International Studies, a research institute affiliated with China's Foreign Ministry, said that warming ties between India and China were unlikely to reduce their competition within BRICS. New Delhi would seize the opportunity presented by hosting this year's summit to expand its influence across the Global South.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said India views the summit as its most important multilateral event of the year. Cooler ties with Washington and the operation of the New Development Bank's regional center in Gujarat have increased BRICS' importance in New Delhi and weakened earlier calls for India to leave the bloc. India is seeking a strong turnout of member and partner leaders-what Wang Yi called a "big BRICS family photo" with Modi at the center-to showcase its convening power and leadership in the Global South. Xi's attendance would be especially significant.
Financial cooperation has long been seen as a potential BRICS tool for reshaping global governance, but proposals for a common payment system, currency and monetary fund face steep hurdles. With Trump threatening penalties over de-dollarization, how India advances financial cooperation will be a key test at the summit.
BRICS now has around 20 members and partners, prompting debate over whether the enlarged bloc can become more effective. Despite Trump's portrayal of BRICS as an "anti-American alliance," Wang said interest across the Global South remains strong. Iraq and Madagascar want partner status, and Malaysia is seeking full membership.
China and India's improving relationship is unlikely to diminish competition within the bloc, and India will use its chairmanship to expand its influence across the Global South. Beijing has regularly introduced new initiatives at BRICS summits, and New Delhi will be eager to keep pace. How the two countries "dance together on the BRICS stage" will therefore be another focus of the summit, Wang Yi said.
Wang stated that BRICS should focus on making the global financial system more inclusive and representative. The IMF's 16th quota review increased total quotas by 50% without changing countries' relative shares. BRICS members are expected to prioritize the 17th review and press the IMF to adopt a new quota formula that gives emerging economies and the Global South greater representation.
