China showed up in New Delhi before India’s chairmanship of the BRICS grouping even got going — and a former Indian diplomat says that was no coincidence. On February 10, China’s Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, held a new round of the China-India Strategic Dialogue with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The timing was deliberate: the meeting took place just days before India formally assumed the chair, and it sent a pretty clear message about who Beijing thinks it needs on its side right now.
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India’s 2026 Presidency Drives BRICS Expansion & China Talks
Former senior Indian diplomat Vidya Bhushan Soni spoke to ANI about what these India-China talks actually reveal — and about the quiet effort being made to diminish the grouping’s relevance on the world stage.
Vidya Bhushan Soni stated:
China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, confirmed on social media that both countries agreed to support each other’s work as the BRICS chair for 2026 and 2027, and to “work together for a multipolar world.” The India-China relationship is also being looked at through the broader lens of the group’s recent growth — the bloc now has 11 full members, after Indonesia joined in early 2025, with ten partner countries also coming on board that same year.
On February 10, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar posted on X, reflecting on what the forum’s 20th year actually means.
S. Jaishankar said:
“As BRICS completes 20 years, it stands as a valuable forum for international cooperation, consultation and coordination, taking forward its people-centric agenda. Value the suggestions and perspectives brought in by different delegations to advance BRICS 2026 priorities of resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.”
India’s Vision for the Chair
On January 13, Jaishankar formally launched BRICS India’s presidency, unveiling the official logo, theme, and website for the 18th summit. The logo features a lotus with a Namaste gesture at its center — petals in the colors of all member states, meant to reflect just how far the group’s expansion has gone in recent years. India plans to host the summit in New Delhi around August or September 2026.
Jaishankar said at the January 13 launch:
“India approaches its chairship with a humanity-first and people-centric approach, inspired by the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our theme — Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability — reflects our belief that cooperation among BRICS members can help address shared challenges in a balanced and inclusive manner.”
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With India at the helm and the latest China-India talks pointing toward alignment before the summit season starts, the 2026 chair is shaping up to be one of the more consequential ones the group has seen since its founding two decades ago.
