BRICS Summit 2026: India Invites Bangladesh as Special Guest While Hosting Key Ministerial Meetings

Key facts

• India will host the BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 17 to 19, 2026.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend the summit as a special guest.
• Bangladesh is neither a BRICS member nor an observer but has expressed interest in joining the grouping.
• China and Russia have backed Bangladesh's interest in BRICS membership.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to attend the summit.
• India hosted the BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi, chaired by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
• The DRR meeting adopted a Joint Ministerial Statement outlining shared priorities for disaster risk reduction.
• India concluded the 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh, which adopted the 16th BRICS Health Ministerial Declaration.
• India announced that the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) will coordinate the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Mental Wellness.
• India's BRICS Chairship theme is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila to discuss bilateral ties.