BRICS Summit Schedule Set: Delhi Shuts Down Government Offices, Courts as Modi Preps Gala Dinner for 11-Nation Bloc

Since India locked in September 12-13 as the dates for the 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit, the logistics have gone from vague planning to a fully published, minute-by-minute schedule. The Ministry of External Affairs released the official program this week, and Delhi's government has responded by shutting down large chunks of the city to make room for it.

According to the schedule reported by News24 Online, BRICS member leaders will start arriving at Bharat Mandapam's Level 2 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 12. A closed session titled "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism" follows at 2:35 p.m. Leaders then move to the Bharat Innovates Exhibition at 4:25 p.m., pose for a family photo at 5:05 p.m., plant trees together at 5:10 p.m., and cap the night with a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7:30 p.m. Sunday brings partner-country and outreach leaders into the mix starting at 9:55 a.m., with the main open session, titled "Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth," set for 10:50 a.m., according to both News24 Online and International News and Views.

Delhi Grinds to a Halt

Hosting this requires more than diplomatic preparation. The Delhi government has declared Friday, September 11, a public holiday for all government offices, autonomous bodies, and public sector undertakings under its authority, according to a notification reported by lawstreet.co. The order, dated September 3 and signed by Joint Secretary Pradeep Tayal, was distributed to 43 different offices and officials, including the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Supreme Court followed suit. LiveLaw reported that the Full Court declared September 11 a holiday for the Court and its Registry, with the Registry also closed September 12. To make up the lost day, the Court set November 28, a Saturday, as a compensatory working day. The Department of Personnel and Training issued a parallel order shutting down Central Government offices in Delhi for the same reason.

Delhi Traffic Police has rolled out a plan controlling or diverting traffic on more than 35 roads, according to LiveMint, to clear paths for foreign delegations. The closures will affect ordinary Delhi residents and businesses for two days.

Airport Bracing for the Surge

Delhi International Airport Ltd has also been retooling operations. LiveMint and News24 Online both report that Pier C at Terminal 3 is being progressively brought online for international flights, with arrivals through the pier beginning the night of September 9 and both arrivals and departures running from the evening of September 10. DIAL CEO Pradeep Panicker said the airport has coordinated with security and operational teams to handle the added international traffic tied to the summit.

A Bloc Struggling for Consensus

The New Indian Express reported that geopolitical disagreements, particularly over the West Asia conflict, have already made consensus difficult at BRICS ministerial meetings this year. With Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia now full members alongside the original Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the bloc has 11 members with sharply different foreign-policy priorities. India's task as chair, per the Express, isn't to erase those differences but to scrape together enough common ground for a credible joint declaration.

Supporters of the BRICS project argue that the bloc's growing membership and combined economic weight reflect a legitimate shift toward a multipolar world where emerging economies get a bigger seat at the table on trade, energy, and technology. The addition of six new full members since 2024 shows the grouping has genuine pull. Whether the summit's closed sessions on multilateralism translate into anything binding, rather than another joint statement papering over real disputes among members, remains to be seen.

India is chairing BRICS for the fourth time, following turns in 2012, 2016, and 2021, according to International News and Views, which also notes the summit falls in the 20th year since the grouping's first ministerial meeting in New York in 2006. The summit is expected to close Sunday with the release of a New Delhi declaration, though its contents and how much daylight remains between member states on the Middle East and other flashpoints won't be known until leaders actually sit down at Bharat Mandapam.