‘No India, no BRICS’: Why China is backing India’s role ahead of New Delhi’s 2026 chair

Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi underscores multilateral push, Global South unity as India prepares to steer BRICS in 2026

• China acknowledges BRICS needs India's leadership for progress
• India and China to back each other's BRICS chairmanship in 2026 and 2027
• Nations reaffirmed commitment to multilateralism and Global South unity.

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China has come to recognise that BRICS 'can’t really get anywhere' without India’s active participation and leadership, former senior Indian diplomat Vidya Bhushan Soni said, framing the latest India-China Strategic Dialogue as a pragmatic reset ahead of New Delhi taking over the bloc’s chair in 2026.

Soni’s remarks to ANI followed talks in New Delhi between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and China’s Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu on February 10, where both sides agreed to support each other’s work as BRICS Chair for 2026 and 2027.

“It is very important that they have come up with this kind of approach. I think that is a sensible approach,” Soni told ANI, noting that India will be steering BRICS deliberations next year.

“Please bear in mind that India will be chairing the BRICS session, so we will be steering the deliberations in various sectors,” he said, adding that significant global changes since the last summit make early coordination essential.

Soni also said that efforts were being made by some “interested parties” to reduce the grouping’s importance. India, he stressed, remains committed to multilateral diplomacy and views BRICS as central to its global engagement.

“For us, BRICS is important because we are one of the Founding Members of that. I think China has realised that BRICS without India’s active participation and leadership role can’t really get anywhere,” he told ANI.

Soni suggested that Beijing’s decision to engage before India’s chairmanship formally begins reflects a desire to avoid divergences and ensure common ground.

“So, they took the initiative of coming and before our Chairmanship starts, we agree on various points so that there is no divergence of view and there is commonality so that we can move forward,” he said.

The official readout of the dialogue described the exchanges as “friendly, candid and in-depth,” covering international and regional developments, internal and external policies, and bilateral ties.

Both sides underlined that China and India should view each other as cooperative partners rather than rivals and treat each other’s development as an opportunity, not a threat, language that echoes the broader messaging after interactions between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They also reaffirmed support for multilateralism, the central role of the United Nations, unity among the Global South, and a multipolar world order.

The stakes are clear. As global alignments shift and BRICS expands its footprint, India’s 2026 chairmanship will test whether the current diplomatic messaging translates into coordinated action, or remains aspirational rhetoric.