Who speaks for the developing world: President Xi Jinping of China or Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India? That question hangs over the BRICS summit in New Delhi as leaders of nearly a dozen emerging-market countries gather. The bloc, founded in 2009 as a counterweight to Western forums, has been pulled between China’s push to expand membership and weaken U.S. power and India’s preference for a bridge between West and developing nations. Xi’s first visit to India in seven years signals a thaw after 2020 border clashes, driven by shared concerns over Trump’s tariffs.

Still, analysts say the rivalry persists, managed rather than resolved. Modi, as host and BRICS chair, sets the agenda, using the summit to signal India’s openness to multiple alignments while maintaining Western ties.