Leaders of Growing BRICS Group Gather for Rio Summit — What’s on the Agenda and What to Expect | Explained

The BRICS group — originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is meeting in Rio de Janeiro with a key mission and more members than ever. 

This is the first leaders’ summit to include newer members like Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Here is what we know about who is attending, what’s on the agenda, what to expect at the BRICS Summit 2025 and why it matters, based on inputs from Reuters.

BRICS Summit 2025: What Is The Central Theme? 

The key mission of the BRICS Summit is to provide a louder voice to developing nations, helping them develop resistance in the face of challenges posed by Western-dominated institutions like the IMF and UN Security Council, and promoting multilateralism.

“In the face of the resurgence of protectionism, it is up to emerging nations to defend the multilateral trade regime and reform the international financial architecture,” Reuters quoted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as saying at the BRICS business forum on Saturday.

An Increasingly Diverse and Bigger BRICS

BRICS now accounts for over half of the world’s people and nearly 40% of world GDP, Lula said, according to Reuters.

Reports suggest there are concerns about the common objectives of an increasingly diverse BRICS club, particularly as the group now comprises regional competitors and countries with differing political systems.

A Brazilian diplomat told the news agency that the space left by others is “filled immediately” by the BRICS, while also suggesting that even though the group wields great influence, “it doesn’t have the hegemony it used to.”

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BRICS Summit 2025: Who Is Attending and Who Isn’t

Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending by proxy, with Premier Li Qiang, his trusted second-in-command, reportedly attending the summit in Xi’s place. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be attending remotely because of an ICC arrest warrant.

PM Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are also slated to attend the two-day summit at Rio’s Museum of Modern Art.

According to the Reuters report, more than 30 nations have expressed interest in either joining the group or having an association with it.

BRICS Summit 2025: What’s on the Agenda?

With Brazil set to host the UN Climate Summit in November, environment-related concerns are lkely to take center stage. 

China and the UAE have both expressed interest in investing in Brazil’s planned Tropical Forests Forever Facility, which will help guard threatened forests across the globe, as reported by Reuters.

Meanwhile, with trade tensions still looming against the backdrop of July 9 deadline for President Donald Trump’s tariffs, BRICS leaders are expected to repeat their April declaration against “unjustified unilateral protectionist steps, including the indiscriminate rise of bilateral tariffs on a reciprocal basis”, per the Reuters report.

Behind closed doors, however, there was difficulty in reaching agreement on the Israel-Iran conflict, Gaza crisis and reform of the Security Council, the report said, adding that there was especially disagreement on which African nation was to represent the continent on a new-look UN Security Council.

According to Reuters, BRICS also hardened its language on the Middle East conflicts, beyond previously used language that only showed “serious concern.”

Additionally, diplomats from the BRICS nations reportedly arrived at a consensus on a joint declaration of their leaders at the summit this week, three people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Saturday.

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