BRICS leaders meet in India as wars and US tensions test the bloc

NEW: BRICS summit opens in New Delhi, with Putin, Xi and Modi meeting to discuss trade, investment and global conflicts amid rising US tensions and tariffs.

Putin, Xi and Modi are all in the same room this weekend.

The BRICS summit has opened in New Delhi, and here's the moment the leaders walked in under the India 2026 banner. On the table, trade, investment, and a world with more wars running than anyone can comfortably count.

The timing is the story. Washington's tariffs are squeezing half the guest list, so a bloc built on loose handshakes suddenly has a reason to act like an actual club. Modi gets to play host and swing vote at the same time, which is exactly where India likes to sit. Xi wants deeper trade lanes that skip the dollar. Putin mostly wants the photo, proof he's not as isolated as the West keeps saying.

Watch what they sign, not what they smile about. BRICS has always been better at summits than at follow-through, and this week tests whether pressure from Washington finally changes that.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.