Ten leaders from across the world gathered on the lawns of Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12, hand in hand, for a simple act that carried a big meaning: planting trees together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the joint tree plantation during the 18th BRICS Summit, joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, and Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
The moment was more than a photo op. For two days, India hosted leaders of member and partner countries to talk about how the world should be run. At the heart of the summit was a big idea: the world's rules are changing, and the old institutions that were built decades ago may not be the right ones to shape what comes next. These countries, together known as the Global South, want a bigger say in how future technology and its rules are made.
That idea took form in the New Delhi Declaration 2026, adopted unanimously by the leaders. Prime Minister Modi called it a paper that "gives clear direction to our shared resolve" — a commitment that the hard part now is turning those words into real results. To mark the occasion, he also launched two postage stamps celebrating 20 years of BRICS.
The meeting's message was direct and forward-looking. Modi described the discussions as "meaningful and constructive," noting that "the changing world cannot be managed by old institutions." He stressed that improvement is needed in three areas: representation, responsiveness, and rule making. For a curious 13-year-old, that means: more countries should have a seat at the table, organizations should act faster, and the rules we all play by should be fair for everyone — not just the powerful.
The tree planting is a fitting symbol. It takes patience, shared effort, and a long view. The same could be said of the cooperation these leaders are trying to build. Ten small saplings, planted side by side by world leaders from every corner of the globe, quietly echo the summit's bigger hope: that when nations work together, even across deep differences, something lasting can take root. The question now is whether the pledges made in New Delhi grow into the concrete results the declaration promises. As Modi put it, the responsibility to convert resolutions into results rests on every one of them.