BRICS: Internal Divisions Threaten New Delhi Summit

The BRICS are approaching a decisive summit amid unprecedented tensions. Meeting in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, 2026, the ten members of the bloc must present a united vision on strategic issues such as de-dollarization and economic cooperation. The task promises to be challenging. Territorial rivalries among some partners, combined with trade pressures from Washington, undermine the image of a united front. This meeting will determine whether the BRICS can still turn their ambitions into a genuine alternative to the dollar-dominated financial system.

In Brief

• The BRICS summit scheduled for September 12 and 13, 2026, in New Delhi is set to be highly tense, weakened by the failure to issue a joint declaration during the preparatory meeting in May.
• Military tensions in the Middle East have led to a direct diplomatic clash between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, revealing deep internal divisions.
• Meanwhile, Washington is increasing economic pressure by threatening to impose an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning with the bloc's de-dollarization strategy.
• Amid territorial disputes, Chinese censorship demands regarding the media, and American protectionist threats, this gathering represents a decisive test for the alliance's cohesion.

Diplomatic Frictions and Military Disputes Within the Bloc

During the meeting of foreign ministers held in New Delhi on May 14 and 15, 2026, to prepare for the leaders' summit, the BRICS bloc faced an unprecedented setback by failing to issue a joint declaration, a first in several years. Unable to reach a consensus on the wording regarding the conflict in the Middle East, India had to resort to issuing a simple presidential statement. The tension is primarily linked to the following heated exchanges:

• Iran's direct accusation: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi unusually spoke out after the other members' interventions. He stated: "The United Arab Emirates has been directly involved in the aggression against my country. When the attacks began, they did not even issue a condemnation.";
• The official response from the United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi quickly replied to support the position of its Minister of State, Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar. In its statement, Emirati diplomacy indicated that the minister "categorically rejected the allegations from Tehran and any attempt to legitimize Iranian terrorist attacks against the country."

This verbal altercation is based on a heavy security record accumulated prior to the gathering. According to data provided by Tehran, nearly 3,000 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones reportedly struck the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states during the hostilities. The persistence of this figure in the arguments put forward by the Emirati side illustrates the depth of the security rift between these two key members.

For Indian diplomacy, the host of the summit, managing these mutual grievances transforms a multilateral leadership exercise into an operation for neutralizing internal crises. The inability to align the foreign policies of nations with antagonistic geopolitical interests undermines the dogma of a united alternative to Western institutions, revealing the vulnerability of a group whose rapid expansion has multiplied friction zones.

The American Protectionist Squeeze Against BRICS' De-Dollarization Aspirations

Alongside these internal dissensions, the project to bypass the US dollar faces a direct counter-offensive from Washington. As early as July 2025, President Donald Trump expressed his intention to financially sanction countries seeking to weaken the American currency. Donald Trump warned on Truth Social: "Any country aligning with the anti-American policies of the BRICS will face an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy."

This firm stance was supported in September by White House senior advisor Peter Navarro, who openly questioned the economic sustainability of the bloc by stating: "Ultimately, none of these countries can survive if they do not sell to the United States, and when they sell their exports to the United States, they are like vampires sucking our blood with their unfair trade practices."

These explicit threats of customs retaliation aim directly to paralyze the financial integration dynamics of the BRICS bloc even before its officialization. Faced with the real risk of increased costs for their exports to the American market, several emerging members find themselves forced to arbitrate between their immediate trade imperatives and their adherence to the alternative payment mechanisms advocated by the group.

The rhetorical and economic offensive from the White House thus instills strategic doubt among the partners most exposed to international trade, significantly hindering the transition to local sovereign currencies or cross-border settlement cryptos.

Prospects for New Delhi

Diplomatically and organizationally, the announced visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, his first trip to India since the deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in 2020, triggers new tensions. Chinese officials have indeed requested that Indian authorities restrict access to the summit venue for journalists working for Tibetan media or linked to the Falun Gong, shortly after the accreditation process was launched.

These organizational constraints add to the presence of a lineup of key leaders including Vladimir Putin, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, while Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will represent his country as a partner. For India, this represents the biggest diplomatic challenge since the G20 summit in 2023.

This accumulation of diplomatic pressures places the Indian host at the center of a complex equation where the credibility of the bloc hinges on organizational details. The media censorship demands put forth by Beijing rekindle bilateral mistrust, while the presence of non-member partners illustrates the hesitations of certain nations to fully engage in the alliance. Thus, New Delhi's ability to maintain a functional dialogue space despite divergent territorial and ideological claims will serve as a real-world test to measure the institutional maturity of the organization.

The repercussions of this dual pressure, both external and structural, prove decisive for the global financial architecture. While the threat of American customs retaliation could prompt some cautious members to moderate their commitment to an alternative monetary system, internal blockages risk slowing its technical execution.

The ability of the New Delhi summit to produce a credible monetary roadmap will depend on a delicate arbitration between the commercial pragmatism of member states and their willingness for financial autonomy. Future developments will reveal whether the BRICS can move beyond rhetoric to build resilient market infrastructures, or if the weight of territorial divisions and global economic dependencies will sustainably hinder their strategic ambitions.