BRICS summits put incompatible agendas on one stage. India’s 2026 hosting produced a tech subplot: Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned against the “weaponisation” of technology and critical minerals, while Chinese President Xi Jinping pushed open-source AI.
What the record shows
Modi warned that weaponising technology and critical minerals could hinder progress. China’s export controls on rare earths make that concrete, as India tries to build manufacturing without becoming a captive customer.
Xi’s package leaned into digital and industrial cooperation, including open-source AI themes that also function as geopolitics: offer tools to the Global South, set defaults, and gain influence. The New Delhi Declaration’s mineral language is the polite version of a fight over who refines materials and who can turn off the tap.
Sources: India Today; Scroll.in.
Operator takeaway
India and China remain rivals in supply chains; Russia wants payment workarounds. Track semiconductors, rare-earth magnets, batteries, cables, and cloud regions. Dual-source components and treat rival-power AI as a governance decision.
The New Delhi meeting showed shared branding versus competition over minerals and AI stacks. Steve Miller — Mason, Ohio.