A Poverty Cover-Up, Neon Lights, and Leaders Going Solo: BRICS From the Delhi Streets
The BRICS Summit is happening in New Delhi. The city has been decked out in signs. Buildings are illuminated. And normal life has come to a near standstill.
Here are some observations from the host city.
Not really together
During the G20 in 2023, the last summit Delhi hosted, there was much talk and amazement on the size of the Narendra Modi portraits that adorned central Delhi. There were other leaders too, but diminished, if portrait-size is anything to go by.
This time, Modi’s images have been cut to size, but they persist and are solo.
Security officers stand guard near BRICS summit banners bearing images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. Photo: AP.
Other leaders have come up now – but they are also solo stories. They figure on their own, not together. Is that an honest portrayal of the BRICS story, kind of separate and disparate though clustered together on occasion? Or is it a case of being scared of Western powers with how too many images of ‘all together’ now will play in international media?
Of course, family photographs at the summit cannot be avoided but togetherness, just near Shanti Path, could paint another picture. Perhaps that is one that India is desperate to also avoid?
'Disappearing' poverty
The shanties around Munirka, near Vasant Vihar in South Delhi – otherwise known as Embassy land – are all covered up.
Only 7.8% of NCR is worth showing to the world. https://t.co/AUcOged78y
— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) September 12, 2026
This shameful practice, of disappearing slums was seen in Ahmedabad when US President Trump came, and then during the G20. One of the worst bouts of demolitions took place in 2023, when over 1,600 homes were razed in the run-up to the 18th G20 summit. Housing and Land Rights Network’s (HLRN)’s report Forced Evictions in India: 2022 & 2023, concluded that approximately 293,205 people were evicted then as Delhi saw 78 eviction drives. Central Delhi’s Connaught Place also saw the beautiful corridors less beautiful and buzzing as street hawkers were cleared away.
This poor cover up misses that Delhi is its people and not just its boulevards. Fun-fact: Over 10% of the capital city lives in slums and forms the backbone of its workforce, per the 2011 Census. Rajya Sabha was told in 2023 that 15.5 lakh Delhiites live in 650 slums.
Lighting up
What got showcased, government offices and buildings, with rainbow lighting and garish neon-like disco lights has been the subject of much debate. Is glorious yellow too pale for new and loud new India? Should the volume be amped up some more? DJ, anyone? The jury is out, but the Ministry of External Affairs likes the look.
Ministry of External Affairs lights up ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit.
📍 New Delhi pic.twitter.com/mjUWfilQ0F
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 11, 2026
Kits
Speaking of things to like, in what is a real surprise this season, journalists have posted on social media how the media kit given by the Indian government is all kinds of fabulous. A news agency has also asked foreign journalists to comment on said kit.
A section of journalists have sought to remind people that there is really no need for a media kit to be this extravagant. "The ONLY thing a journalist’s kit should contain is a programme schedule & relevant text," said one.
Whither hugs?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. Photo: PTI.
In this image received on Sept. 12, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi. Photo: PMO via PTI.
The timeline of Modi and other official feeds have no images of hugs and wraps around other heads of government when we last checked. The jhappi-pappis which have been the subject of endless memes after 2024 – Pulkit Mani’s memorable meme having been pulled off social media in a nod to its virality appears – to have led to the hugs being less the stuff of PR imagery, at least on official sites. Do check your WhatsApp groups for further updates.
This article went live on September twelfth, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-three minutes past one in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
