New Delhi, Sep 12: BRICS leaders have adopted a comprehensive set of cultural and people-to-people cooperation initiatives at the 18th summit in New Delhi, spanning culture, education, tourism, sports, youth affairs, and women’s empowerment, in a decisive push to deepen ties among the expanded bloc’s nations and peoples.
The measures, contained in the summit’s outcome document, reaffirm the “importance of BRICS people-to-people exchanges and initiatives in enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation amongst our nations and peoples,” according to the text reviewed by Kashmir Convener.
The leaders welcomed the adoption of the Bhopal Declaration at the BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting, calling for the protection of cultural heritage, including in conflict-affected regions, and stressing “the need to ensure the restitution and repatriation of cultural heritage, antiquities, and objects of spiritual, ancestral, historical and cultural value, to their country of origin.”
The framework encourages cooperation among museums, archives, and libraries, and endorses the exchange of best practices in cultural and creative industries. India’s initiative to create a pilot Artist Registry for voluntarily participating members was taken note of, alongside platforms on cultural and creative industries and the documentation of Traditional Knowledge Systems.
The leaders welcomed the BRICS Culture Festival and WAVES Bazaar, the BRICS Theatre Festival, and the BRICS Film Festival as platforms for showcasing cultural diversity, and encouraged the expansion of such engagements.
The summit welcomed outcomes of the BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting in Bhubaneswar, reaffirming education as “a key driver of sustainable development, inclusive growth, and people-to-people exchanges.”
India circulated BRICS Guiding Principles on strengthening academic collaboration on traditional and indigenous knowledge systems, with the BRICS Network University encouraged to consider adding these as an International Thematic Group.
The leaders endorsed continued cooperation through the BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance, anticipating a Biennial Progress Report and a Compendium of Sustainable Skill Initiatives. They encouraged discussions on a BRICS Education Olympiad and “further exploration for the development of the BRICS University Global Ranking and Evaluation System.”
The summit welcomed outcomes of the BRICS Women Ministerial meeting in Kochi, anchored in “the vision of women-led development and women’s all-round development.”
The leaders recognised women as “leaders, decision-makers and drivers of economic growth and social transformation,” affirming the importance of women’s participation in governance, financial and digital inclusion, and entrepreneurship. The development of BRICS Women’s Digital Capacity Building Guidelines was welcomed, and India’s initiative for a voluntary digital repository of best practices was noted.
The outcome document announces the adoption of BRICS CONNECT (BRICS Cooperation Network for Capacity Building, Employability, and New Skills and Technologies), complementing the existing BRICS Virtual Liaison Office for social security cooperation.
The leaders recognised the “transformative role of digital technologies” in expanding social protection outreach, and acknowledged “the importance of exploring innovative, nationally tailored policy approaches to increase social protection coverage to workers in the gig and platform economy.” An initiative to establish an International Digital Platform for Remote Employment for BRICS countries was noted.
Tourism was recognised as “an important driver of economic growth, employment generation, foreign exchange earnings, inclusive and sustainable development, local livelihoods, economic diversification, heritage preservation, national image building, cultural understanding and people-to-people exchanges.”
The leaders welcomed the Communique of the Tourism Ministers’ Meeting held in Jaipur, and initiatives on harnessing Artificial Intelligence and digital tools for smarter tourism systems, including digital payment systems promoting eco-friendly, community-led, sustainable and climate-resilient tourism models.
The progress of the BRICS Sports Working Group and implementation of the MoU on Cooperation in Physical Culture and Sport were commended. The BRICS Games was appreciated as a platform for high-performance, mass, and leisure sports, as well as for national, traditional, indigenous and non-Olympic sports.
A proposal for a BRICS Sports Goods Manufacturing Conclave was welcomed, along with discussions on forming a Working Group on Sports Technology. The leaders also welcomed dialogue on a BRICS Sports Cooperation Framework.
The leaders welcomed discussions at the BRICS Ministerial for Youth Affairs and commended the BRICS Youth Council and BRICS Youth Summit for strengthening meaningful youth engagement.
Progress on the BRICS Youth Cooperation Framework was welcomed, covering priorities including education, youth entrepreneurship, science and technology, social and cultural participation, volunteerism, poverty eradication, health, sports, environment, interfaith dialogue, and youth inclusion.
The document recognises the need to strengthen cooperation in justice, acknowledging the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Justice, the Meeting of BRICS Chief Justices, and the Meeting of BRICS Heads of Prosecution Services. Support was expressed for advancing Alternative Dispute Resolution as an accessible and people-centric mechanism.
The leaders looked forward to the XII BRICS Parliamentary Forum in October 2026, including the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians and the Meeting of International Affairs Committee Chairpersons.
The BRICS Business Forum 2026, the BRICS Solutions Awards 2026, and the BRICS Women’s Start-up Awards 2026 were welcomed. The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance annual report recommendations on access to finance, markets, technology, and digital opportunities for women-led enterprises were endorsed.
The summit noted progress on the establishment of a BRICS Online Archival Database and India’s initiative for an MoU stocktaking exercise contributing to institutional development.
The document commends India’s BRICS Chairship in 2026 and expresses gratitude for hosting the 18th Summit in New Delhi, while extending “full support to China for its BRICS Chairship in 2027 and the holding of the XIX BRICS Summit in China.”
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