Hand-in-hand: PM Modi, Putin, Pezeshkian walk side-by-side as BRICS flexes muscle against West

Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked hand-in-hand with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin as BRICS leaders gathered in New Delhi on Friday. With Western pressure on Russia and Iran forming a sharp backdrop, the red-carpet moment at the BRICS Business Forum put the growing economic and political weight of the expanded bloc firmly in focus.

The leaders walked together through a red-carpet corridor at the BRICS Business Forum venue, where the official BRICS India 2026 branding formed the backdrop. PM Modi was seen holding hands with Pezeshkian while Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa joined the group.

The Business Forum was held ahead of the formal opening of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The images came at a sensitive moment in global politics. Russia and Iran have faced extensive Western sanctions, while BRICS has sought to expand trade, investment and financial links among its members.

Pezeshkian used his address to argue that BRICS would be judged by whether its economic size could be converted into practical cooperation. "We believe that the true strength of BRICS is not confined merely to the size of its members' economies; rather, it becomes more apparent when these capacities are transformed into a network of trade, investment and joint financing – a transition from potential cooperation to operational one," he said.

The Iranian President also pointed to geopolitical uncertainty, disrupted supply chains and the "increasing use of economic instruments to exert political pressure." PM Modi's address focused on the economic scale of the grouping.

According to the Prime Minister, BRICS countries now account for 50% of the world's population, 40% of global GDP and more than 25% of global trade. He said the difference in growth was even more significant. While global GDP had increased about two-and-a-half times over the period he cited, the combined GDP of BRICS members had grown nearly four-and-a-half times.

"The economic strength of BRICS has grown at nearly twice the pace of the rest of the world," PM Modi said. He described the 2026 gathering in India as the largest BRICS Business Forum held so far. Putin, meanwhile, argued that stronger business links could make international economic relations more resilient.

"Reliable business-to-business ties and economic partnerships are the backbone of international economic relations," the Russian President said. He also said the global economy was going through deep structural changes as "old leaders" were being replaced by "new engines of growth," while acknowledging that established economies retain major infrastructure, scientific and economic strengths.

India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 chairship, with the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability." The expanded BRICS grouping has 11 members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE.

The Business Forum brings political and business leaders together to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development. For India, the immediate task is turning a much larger BRICS membership into workable agreements while finding common ground among countries with very different political and economic interests.

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