As a BRICS Partner Country, Vietnam actively participated in the 18th BRICS Summit and step up practical cooperation with India and other partners.

Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung outlined three major directions, namely strengthening the resilience and self-reliance of economies; creating new, inclusive and sustainable drivers of growth; and promoting cooperation in science, technology and innovation.

He reaffirmed Vietnam’s support for stronger BRICS coordination with multilateral mechanisms and for the grouping to play a greater role in promoting dialogue, cooperation and responses to global challenges, with the aim of advancing peace, stability, sustainable development and inclusive growth.

Vietnam’s proposals received a positive response from India, the host country, and leaders attending the summit.

Expanding cooperation with India and other partners

Vietnam’s participation in the 18th BRICS Summit went beyond strengthening bilateral ties with India. It also opened further space for cooperation between Vietnam and emerging and developing economies, while providing an additional channel for ASEAN and other countries of the Global South to make their voices heard.

Vietnam’s participation attracted considerable attention in India, alongside the Prime Minister’s bilateral engagements during his visit.

In their meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Le Minh Hung reviewed progress in bilateral relations and discussed ways to expand cooperation in defence and security, energy, rare earths and space. The two sides also looked toward a bilateral trade target of US$25 billion by 2030 and greater two-way investment.

The leaders discussed the deep civilisational and cultural links between the two countries. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed that Vietnam would remain an important pillar of India’s Act East Policy and the country’s MAHASAGAR vision.

Indian media also highlighted the broader significance of Vietnam’s participation, viewing it not only through the lens of bilateral relations but also in the context of BRICS’ expanding engagement with emerging and developing economies and the wider Global South.

India’s assessment was reflected at the highest level. Prime Minister Modi said Vietnam’s participation as a BRICS Partner Country helped elevate the stature of the 18th BRICS Summit.

Assessing Vietnam’s contribution to BRICS, Prof. Faisal Ahmed of FORE School of Management, New Delhi, highlighted the country’s independent foreign policy and strategic autonomy as factors strengthening its position as a promising player in the Global South.

He also pointed to Vietnam’s considerable potential to expand and establish global production networks, particularly by strengthening connections with other ASEAN countries.

For Vietnam, the summit therefore provided an opportunity to deepen its engagement with India, alongside strengthening connections with other emerging and developing economies through a broader multilateral framework.

BRICS 18 strengthens cooperation across the Global South

The 18th BRICS Summit, held in New Delhi on September 12-13, concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and divergent interests among the grouping’s members.

The declaration reaffirmed BRICS’ commitment to strengthening cooperation across its three pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation, while placing greater emphasis on resilience, innovation, sustainable development and inclusive growth.

It also explicitly recognised the valuable contribution of BRICS Partner Countries and stressed that closer engagement with emerging markets and developing countries would help strengthen solidarity and international cooperation. The declaration reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to inclusive, mutually beneficial and development-oriented partnerships and encouraged Partner Countries to take part more actively in BRICS activities and practical cooperation.

India’s 2026 BRICS chairmanship was conducted under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” reflecting the host country’s emphasis on practical, inclusive and development-oriented cooperation.

At the conclusion of the summit, Prime Minister Modi described BRICS as an ecosystem of solutions, emphasising the growing confidence of countries of the Global South in a mechanism where their voices are heard, their experiences respected and solutions are developed together.

The summit thus reflected not only the role of the 11 BRICS members but also the increasingly substantive participation of Partner Countries. Of the 10 countries holding BRICS Partner Country status, nine took part in the New Delhi summit.

Overall, Vietnam’s participation and proposals at the 18th BRICS Summit demonstrated its proactive approach to multilateral cooperation, creating additional avenues for connectivity with ASEAN, India and other partners across the Global South.