NEW DELHI, Sept 11 — Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are among the first BRICS leaders to arrive in India’s capital to attend the grouping’s 18th Summit this weekend.
They are followed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
According to the list of arrivals released by India’s External Affairs Ministry, the BRICS leaders are arriving at two airport locations: Indira Gandhi International Airport and Air Force Station (AFS) Palam, New Delhi.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, is scheduled to arrive at 6.40 pm local time today (9.10 pm Malaysian time) at AFS Palam.
Meanwhile, China’s President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive on Sept 12.
Malaysia is participating in the BRICS Leaders’ Summit as a BRICS Partner Country.
Hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Summit carries the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, with a focus on strengthening resilience, economic cooperation, as well as trade and investment reforms.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, will be accompanied by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Ramanan Ramakrishnan.
The BRICS group, a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries of the Global South and a platform for collaboration across diverse sectors, was initially established by Brazil, Russia, India and China.
It later expanded with the inclusion of South Africa in 2011, followed by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2023, and Indonesia in 2024.
Malaysia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda and Uzbekistan, were accepted as BRICS partner countries.
As a founding member of BRICS, India has previously held the chairship three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2021. India assumed its fourth BRICS Chairship on Jan 1, 2026.
The year 2026 also marks a significant milestone as BRICS celebrates 20 years since its inception.
