Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined other BRICS leaders, senior ministers and business representatives for a family photograph at the BRICS Business Forum 2026 in New Delhi. The photograph was taken during the 18th BRICS Summit hosted by India under its 2026 chairship.

The group photograph featured PM Modi alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Chairs of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women's Business Alliance also joined the gathering.

The BRICS Business Forum is the flagship private sector platform of the grouping. The host country convenes it every year on the eve of the Leaders' Summit. It brings together business leaders, ministers and heads of state to discuss key economic issues. These include trade, investment, finance, technology and development.

The forum also provides a platform to present and discuss ideas from the BRICS Business Council. Its discussions play an important role in shaping the group’s economic agenda. Observations from the forum and recommendations from the Business Council are regularly reflected in BRICS Summit declarations and follow-up work plans.

The discussions were centred on intra-BRICS trade, investment, the digital economy, MSMEs, standards cooperation and value chain integration. The forum has gained importance as BRICS expands its economic and political representation across major emerging economies.

India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 chairship. The country's chairship is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. Development, sustainability and innovation remain key areas of focus during India's tenure.

BRICS has become an important platform for coordination among major emerging economies. It also provides a forum to advance the interests of the Global South in multilateral institutions. Its agenda covers development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges.

The grouping currently has 11 members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. Together, the members account for around 49.5 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade, according to background information on India's 2026 chairship.

India's BRICS chairship comes at a time of global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures. New Delhi aims to turn the expanded representation of BRICS into stronger cooperation and tangible outcomes. It also seeks to build consensus among the diverse members and improve the effectiveness of existing BRICS mechanisms.

The BRICS Business Forum plays a key role in these efforts, drawing participation from business leaders, ministers and heads of state, and gives the private sector a direct platform to contribute to discussions on trade, investment, finance, technology and development.