Delhi declares September 11 holiday ahead of 18th BRICS Summit

The Delhi government has declared a public holiday on September 11, 2026, for all government offices, autonomous bodies, and public sector undertakings operating under the National Capital Territory. The holiday is given as the city prepares to host the 18th BRICS Summit. The holiday falls a day before India formally opens the two-day summit at Bharat Mandapam.

The notification, issued by the General Administration Department’s Coordination Branch at the Delhi Secretariat, was signed on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor by Joint Secretary Pradeep Tayal. 

The holiday clears the decks a day ahead of the summit proper, which runs September 12–13 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan’s convention centre. This year’s gathering carries symbolic weight — it caps two decades since BRICS was conceived, tracing back to a 2006 informal meeting of Brazilian, Russian, Indian, and Chinese leaders on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit. 

India assumed the BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026, its fourth turn at the helm after previous hosting stints in 2012, 2016, and 2021. The Embassy of India in Riyadh has stated that the chairship year has already produced over 350 meetings and high-level engagements across more than 25 Indian cities.

The summit’s theme, ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,’ is expected to steer discussions toward local-currency trade among member states, food and energy security, and reform of multilateral institutions — issues central to the bloc’s Global South orientation.