Who Am I Meeting? Getting Ready for the BRICS Summit 2026 in Delhi

Think BRICS

Reporting inside the BRICS summit in Delhi, we examine the atmosphere on the ground. See where the conversations are happening.  We are on the ground in Delhi, capturing the real-time discussions surrounding the latest BRICS summit. While official agendas focus on policy, we look at the environment where these high-level talks intersect with daily life in the city.  This exclusive interview with our friend Dr Ankit Shah from a the Delhi food court at the India Hatt, provides a candid look at the setting for our ongoing geopolitical analysis. We continue to track how the Global South is shaping new economic frameworks, and observations like these are vital to understanding the human side of the Think BRICS mission.  Subscribe for our weekly BRICS news breakdowns, and let us know in the comments what you think about the current summit atmosphere.  #brics #bricssummit2026 #geopolitics   00:00 – Getting Media Accreditation for the BRICS Summit in Delhi 00:48 – Ankit Shah Returns: What to Expect at the BRICS Summit 02:00 – Delhi on High Alert: Massive Security Measures for World Leaders 03:07 – Modi & Putin Bilateral Talks: India–Russia Defense Deals & Joint Production 05:07 – How India Stabilized Global Energy Markets After Western Sanctions 06:37 – Xi Jinping Visits India: The Future of India–China Diplomatic Relations 08:18 – Indonesia Joins BRICS: Expanding South Asian Economic Ties 09:56 – De-Dollarization: Interlinking BRICS CBDCs & Cross-Border UPI Payments 11:38 – Middle East Tensions & India's Strategic Return to Chabahar Port 13:13 – A Diplomatic Formula for Peace in the Ukraine Conflict 16:14 – India’s Balancing Act Between Iran, Israel, and the West 17:50 – Modi's Domestic Popularity vs. Global Statesman Standing 21:05 – Bold Geopolitical Predictions: US Military Base Exits & The Shift to Multipolarity  🌐 https://thinkbrics.world 🌍 @ThinkBRICS_de | @ThinkBRICS_es | @ThinkBRICS_pt 🎥 @ThinkBRICSChronicles | @BRICSbusiness 📰 Newsletter: thinkbrics.substack.com ☕ Support: buymeacoffee.com/ThinkBRICS ✅ Subscribe: youtube.com/@ThinkBRICS?sub_confirmation=1  ⚠️ Educational content. Public sources. Not official advice. Verify independently. Fair use.

Transcript

00:09we are in Delhi and all our efforts were not useless so media accreditation here it is and

00:18now we go to meet one person many of you definitely would like to see on our channel follow us

00:51as we promised to you today we have a little surprise and this surprise is called

00:58Ankit Shah hello hello for a long time for a long time yes since I don't know two years our

01:11followers

01:12our subscribers asking sending us messages and questions when Ankit Shah will be back to think

01:19bricks please bring him as soon as possible and we did it here here he is in Delhi in India

01:28just one day

01:29before brick summit begins we are here to talk about geopolitics yeah so so many viewers were asking

01:37for me for coming on this channel so after a long time and since both of them are here for

01:44the brick

01:44summit we got a chance to meet up and do some shopping as well and to drink some fruit tea

01:52drinks

01:52that we like tasty one thing that we noted when we were on the on the city it's full of

02:04police

02:05military people security services and as we were told three days of the summit its vacations in India in

02:19Delhi in Delhi yeah so what do you think about that it's a holiday so as we know that this

02:27bricks is

02:28covering multiple partner countries as well this time it's not just about the five countries so these

02:36are a huge contingent of delegates who have arrived and looking at the logistics and the security we

02:44announced a holiday in the city for that purpose and a lot of engagements being planned for even days

02:52prior to the leaders summit so by that logic they have made the security arrangements tight in the capital

03:01and me and you we are sitting right now and right now Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets up with

03:11President Putin yeah so and the later uh Xi Jinping will come yeah so what do you expect from that

03:21meetings

03:22well um mostly our bilateral cooperation with Russia has been on the defense front so we'll certainly see

03:32some announcements of maybe some ready-made planes been bought uh transport carriers uh fighter jet

03:41things like that we are also looking at technology transfer arrangements because the focus of our

03:48Prime Minister has been make in India and make for the world so we are looking at multiple defense

03:56projects with Russia joint production and exports later just like we saw how from Moss was missile from Moss

04:05missiles tested during operation Sindhu as well and then we had multiple export orders which

04:10culminated later so joint production defense um a lot of trade stuff so for three days of innoprom we saw

04:20multiple businesses showcasing Russian businesses showcasing their products and services over here in

04:26Delhi and I think both the nations are going to be uh long-term partners India and Russia in particular

04:36because the geographical locations of both the countries are in a way uh completely non-confrontational uh from

04:44any angle even in diplomatic terms so the alliance makes sense uh it has always been very steady relationship

04:52with them we saw their help uh coming in whenever we needed and we also helped them out whenever they

04:59face diplomatic problems uh due to ukraine conflict and things stuff like that India played a huge role as

05:07um stabilizer of the energy market yeah particularly of the euro after the european ban on russian oil and gas

05:15so-called ban um so India was the gateway with which the western citizens were able to probably run their

05:25vehicles otherwise uh with a total complete blanket ban how were the energy supplies going to be replenished

05:33for the european nations so uh i think we believe in um in a geopolitics where we take along global

05:42interest

05:42and global stability uh in perspective rather than one group clashing with the other group and that is what

05:49makes uh bharat unique uh in hosting multiple big powers beat quad summit beat bricks beat g20

05:59so as a host we believe that uh better outcomes can come with india uh as in the middle among

06:08the

06:09between the east and the western forces we see that um in delhi well a lot of billboards a lot

06:17of

06:17advertisement about bricks so it means uh india put so much efforts in organizing the event and uh

06:30attracting all leaders uh all together tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in delhi

06:37the most interesting thing is xi jinping will come to delhi himself after seven years because seven years

06:45ago it was his last visit to delhi we remember well that last year prime minister moody visited

06:53beijing so this year uh sees time time to come to to india so what do you think about his

07:04visit

07:05i think it's a very important visit not only from a multilateral perspective but also for the bilateral

07:12relations because we saw how um the solution to the lac standoff came about around the brick summit 2024

07:23you remember that we both were there in kazan that yeah when uh two prime minister and xi jinping

07:30shake their yeah their hands so uh that that summit became the focus became india and china because of

07:37the lac standoff between the two countries at the border so i think that turning point and now we are

07:42building on that relationship which um believes that asia's time has come and uh if xi jinping and the entire

07:53delegation that has come if they can show that kind of wisdom that asian powers need to re-emerge

08:00uh and uh assert their role in global politics i think uh this is a time when uh both the

08:08countries can

08:09take multi-polarity uh ahead well you say that it's um asia's time that came um let's

08:18take into account another asian player that became a full member of breaks indonesia

08:24uh and uh parabola subianto will be himself uh if i'm not mistaken tomorrow uh during the the brics events

08:33so what's your opinion on indonesia well um indonesia i mean the larger part of what

08:43we academicians call as south asia is we see it as an extension of the bhartiya subcontinent

08:50so indonesians despite uh the religious change that they have seen culturally uh they are much

08:58more aligned with the bhartiya way of living and we see the strategic partnership between

09:04two nations between bharat and indonesia um going with full speed with the current leadership that we

09:11have we have we have multiple i mean the prime minister recently visit uh visited their country

09:19so we have multiple agreements that are signed between the two nations we are also looking at space

09:25yeah and space technology cooperation with and one of agreements about bilateral trade in local

09:31currencies if i'm not mistaken between india and indonesia also true that's true that's true so we have

09:37been signing uh multiple free trade agreements with individual countries uh and also the the asian part

09:45of the world more of that kind where we can trade between the nations in local currencies and if not

09:51local currencies you can uh connect the payment mechanisms just like bharat has upi which is now

09:59operative in more than 30 plus countries so whenever an indian visitor goes to these nations they

10:05they can just use the upi app and make payments so we are looking at connecting our upi with as

10:12many

10:12individual nations payment mechanisms as possible so that we can shield ourselves from the fluctuations

10:21which uh global currencies like us dollar or euro or pound might face looking at the kind of turbulence

10:28that is going around with the conflicts around yeah and the massive mountain of decks which the western

10:34countries have on the head looking at that uh we need to have some kind of resilience and uh you

10:41know

10:42stability for the future transactions which this payment mechanisms can give about payment mechanisms

10:48india this year proposed cbdc's to um um how are they called to share to connect the cbdc's of all

10:59brics

11:00countries together digital tokens yeah so we don't require hard currency for these transactions so from

11:09the same payment mechanism like i can pay in digital rupee uh the other person say in china would receive

11:15in digital yuan yeah without us dollar in between is it already in operation not it's already in operation

11:23it's already in operation it's already in operation we have transactions done with uh uae we have some

11:28transactions done with russia as well as well it's already tested uh and in place you just want to need

11:35to expand it towards the global south countries let's move a little bit and um watch at what's happening

11:43in the middle east mainly in iran and the confrontation with the united states

11:50what's your take on on the situation well uh bharat and iran has always had long civilizational ties

12:02and we used to call that our relations is thicker than oil that is what we used to call so

12:09i believe that

12:11once uh the american operation cease uh bharat will again be back to the chabar port which is very

12:19strategic for the instc corridor it is um one of the most important economic corridors that would link

12:26up until russia so we are looking to come back at the chabar port because we have given up the

12:34stake

12:34that we had before the conflict started we would like to buy back that stake after uh the forces exit

12:42and with the new regime we would like to push forward our relations back again um so far as

12:49the iranian leader is participating in bricks as well um as a as a partner country as a core member

12:57of the

12:57group i believe um multiple outcomes might come hopefully there is some speed which is visible

13:07for the ukraine conflict to close before the iranian conflict because you think so because we had our

13:16foreign minister visit russia in the first days of september so i think one of the formula that can be

13:26worked

13:26out is uh if ukraine gives up what it has already lost and russia is claiming if that territorial gain

13:35is acknowledged and the remaining ukraine leaves its demand for nato membership if these two things falls in

13:46place uh maybe the peace talks can proceed faster uh we hope so but it's uh four uh four years

13:58and a half

13:59already uh we are in the period for the banking crisis it seems but i would like to ask about

14:07iran again uh you

14:08say that you hope that with the new leadership uh harad india will continue cooperation and uh again we'll be

14:20back to chabahar for but are there any obstacles with the previous administration but i don't know why uh

14:31why you say that to be back india is all invested a lot in that territory and uh during the

14:40attacks

14:42american troops stroke on chabahar port they attacked chabahar port although our stake was out so it means

14:49that indian investments just no they almost disappeared no our investments were already sold before they

14:56attacked okay sold to whom uh to the local iranian businesses okay yeah we exited the project before

15:03the conflict okay so now it's much much more clear because uh actually we ourselves we anticipated we

15:13because see that the conflict between the regime and the american government uh the discussions and uh you

15:22know the way they were commenting on each other it was going on for so long so we were anticipating

15:28some

15:30strikes so we exited the stake much before the conflict began and we believe that once the conflict

15:39closes there is still an opportunity to engage with the iranian government even the new regime we believe

15:46uh should be pro-india because we've never been um anything we don't have anything negative uh with

15:55the iranian people or any grudges or any past baggage or things like that so we should be back on

16:01track

16:01with the instc corridor even with the new regime do you think it is possible after uh claiming that you

16:11are friends with israel that always has been possible with bharat because we've been friends with uh

16:19multiple conflicting parties uh be it u.s or russia be it u.s or china uh so it's nothing

16:26new for us

16:27that we have been engaging with both the sides even with the ukrainian sides so i believe we are in

16:34that

16:34sweet spot where we can um encourage debates and discussions between both the sides rather than

16:41an approach which completely negates one side that is not what we stand for uh we believe this

16:50geopolitics of clashing one group with the other group the western with the eastern or the western

16:58with the communists uh the western with the islamic we don't believe in this kind of clashes in

17:05geopolitics in the larger interest of the people so i think despite our partnership with israel

17:12we do fairly good with the iranian people as well and you might notice uh whenever there are calamities

17:19national calamities or any kind even during the war times uh bharat has been able to supply humanitarian

17:26aid to both the sides to the injured and the people of those nations be it ukraine be it gaza

17:33we've been supplying humanitarian aid uh after the attacks so we never uh had this kind of problems of

17:43other nations telling us what kind of relationship we should be having with the uh other nations thank

17:49you um may i ask you about internal politics here in india there is an opinion that prime minister

17:57modi pays so much attention to brics inviting so um numerous uh high profile delegations it's just his mode to

18:10regain um weight inside his own country because we remember about recent disorders protests

18:22student protests and um some analysts say that the popularity of prime minister moody is going

18:31slowly down no so i think uh there's a bit of a confusion here because

18:38bharat has been a very vibrant democracy we've been allowing protests be it anywhere uh the kind of

18:46diversity that we have every every 50 miles you will find different clothing different language different

18:52food different style of clothing so um with this kind of diversity it is very natural that out of 150

19:00crore

19:01people we are the largest population on earth yeah with this size of population it is very natural that

19:07you know some pockets are not going to be happy about some things it's not that all 150 crore is

19:13going to be

19:14happy with the policies of the government these agreements uh they exist these agreements uh exist uh and i

19:22believe it is very healthy for a democracy for people to uh voice their opinion even if it is against

19:28uh

19:29the current government uh and the current government gave a lot of space to this protest uh in fact helping

19:37them out even with the logistics and security so uh but then the protests fizzled out on their own

19:45uh the government didn't require any kind of violence to do so uh they put forth their agreements

19:52their demands the government is working on those demands i don't know if they will agree on everything

19:59but it may be in some parts they might the process is going on the process is on the government

20:05there's all eyes and ears uh to the demands of the people and uh as far as our prime minister

20:12is

20:13concerned this is his third term uh probably he will cross all records as a prime minister highest there

20:21is always already a longest serving prime minister one of the longest serving prime ministers so uh we are

20:28more than sure that the next uh election as well he'll win with a thumping majority uh and the kind

20:34of vision

20:35that he has for bharat and as well as for the world as a global statesman today we have seen

20:40more than

20:4120 countries felicitating him with their national awards so the highest civilian awards so this is a

20:49global statesman who has complete support of the people uh if elections are to be held today he would

20:55come with a complete majority your followers your audience loves you so much for your predictions

21:03the same we do what would you predict for the nearest future something uh spicy like indian food

21:16i think we'll see a lot of american military bases being given up given up in the gulf as well

21:26as in europe

21:27because in multipolarity uh the american hegemony would be limited to its own region which is the south

21:37american continent so all the best south america enjoy the might and the sabotage capacities

21:47uh and uh are you perceived in the nearest year two years five years ten years oh within within a

21:55year within a year

21:57within a year uh america will not have so many military bases that it has today well we see it

22:05already

22:05happening in the middle east some military bases um do not exist do not exist they are being attacked but

22:14they are not yet formally vacated so that is what is expected so the american hegemony need to focus

22:21in its own region okay and we'll see a lot of a lot of um business engagements between bharat and

22:32china

22:32and china because as much as many bases america vacates

22:39the dollar will then leave the region after the bases are vacated and leaving space for yeah it's

22:48very natural that's it's the u.s military which ultimately backs the dollar yeah so the military

22:55leaves the dollar leaves and as the dollar and military leave the new economic corridors the vacancy

23:03that is created uh will obviously will be filled in by other powers so it is very natural for bharat

23:10and china to take a pro role uh in fulfilling all those roles which u.s vacates that's it thank

23:19you

23:20thank you

23:21thank you

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