Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya chaired the BRICS Sports Ministers’ Meeting in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, where member countries adopted a Joint Declaration on sports cooperation. Along with Minister of State Raksha Khadse, he also led the BRICS Friendship Cycling Event on the city’s beach road. In parallel, India hosted the 18th BRICS Academic Forum in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, as part of its BRICS Chairship 2026.
What Happened at the BRICS Youth and Sports Ministers’ Meetings?
BRICS is the acronym for a bloc of major emerging economies that was originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group has since expanded, and its current members are called BRICS Member States. Under India’s Chairship, the BRICS Youth Ministers’ Meeting and the BRICS Sports Ministers’ Meeting were held in Visakhapatnam on 22 and 23 August 2026. Both meetings were chaired by Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, with Raksha Khadse, the Minister of State, also taking part.
The two ministerial tracks brought together Ministers and Heads of Delegation from all 11 BRICS member countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Senior officials of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, including Secretary (Youth Affairs) Sunil Paliwal and Secretary (Sports) Hari Ranjan Rao, were associated with the engagements. The meetings were designed to exchange national experiences, identify practical areas of cooperation, and strengthen joint efforts on youth participation, sports development and inclusive growth.
The single most important outcome was the adoption, by consensus, of the BRICS Sports Joint Declaration. The declaration reaffirmed the commitment of member states to strengthen cooperation in sport through dialogue, mutual respect and inclusiveness. It also recognised sport as a tool for social development, people-to-people exchanges, and the promotion of healthy and active societies. The outcomes of these meetings feed directly into the agenda of the 18th BRICS Summit, which India hosted in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026, and they contribute to India’s Chairship theme.
Three Sports Initiatives Advanced Under India’s Chairship
India used its Chairship to push three concrete sports initiatives, all of which were anchored in the Visakhapatnam discussions. The most institution-building of these is the proposal for a BRICS Working Group on Sports Technology. Once formed, the group will strengthen cooperation in sports science, athlete performance, governance, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and innovation, with India contributing experts across key sporting domains. The New Delhi Declaration later backed this proposal and encouraged discussions on setting up the working group.
The second initiative is the BRICS Sports Manufacturing Conclave, which received broad support during the meeting. Udaipur, Rajasthan, has been proposed as the host city for its inaugural edition in November 2026. The conclave will bring together manufacturers, exporters, investors, technology providers, small and medium enterprises, start-ups and research institutions. Its focus areas include the exchange of best practices, technology and innovation, quality standards, intra-BRICS trade, and resilient and sustainable supply chains. The proposal fits India’s wider push to build a domestic sports goods manufacturing ecosystem.
The third initiative is the BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games 2026, proposed to be hosted in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on 12 and 13 October 2026. Unlike a regular competition, this is a non-competitive and culturally focused event where member countries showcase and preserve their traditional and indigenous sporting heritage. It aims to promote cultural exchange, people-to-people ties and mutual understanding among BRICS nations.
| Initiative | Proposed Venue | Scheduled Time | Core Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRICS Working Group on Sports Technology | To be formed | Under discussion | Sports science, athlete performance, governance, AI and digital transformation |
| BRICS Sports Manufacturing Conclave | Udaipur, Rajasthan | November 2026 | Manufacturing, quality standards, intra-BRICS trade and supply chains |
| BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | 12 to 13 October 2026 | Cultural exchange and promotion of traditional sports |
The BRICS Friendship Cycling Event and Fit India Sundays on Cycle
Ahead of the formal ministerial proceedings, Mandaviya and Khadse led the BRICS Friendship Cycling Event along Ramakrishna Beach Road in Visakhapatnam. The ride covered roughly five kilometres, passing landmarks such as the Submarine Museum and the Sea Harrier area, and it concluded with a traditional welcome by local fisherfolk. Sports ministers and representatives from Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and South Africa joined the event, which was organised on the sidelines of the BRICS Youth and Sports Ministers’ Meetings.
The cycling event was held as the 87th edition of Fit India Sundays on Cycle, a weekly fitness drive envisioned by Mandaviya and started in December 2024. The initiative is organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) along with the Cycling Federation of India (CFI), the Raahgiri Foundation and MY Bharat. It is conducted simultaneously across all states and union territories through the Sports Authority of India (SAI) network and the Khelo India ecosystem, including SAI Regional Centres, National Centres of Excellence, SAI Training Centres, Khelo India State Centres of Excellence and Khelo India Centres.
By tagging a global diplomatic event onto a mass fitness drive, India used the Visakhapatnam leg to underline a key Chairship message: that cooperation among BRICS countries should reach ordinary citizens and not remain confined to government meetings. Mandaviya described the event as a celebration of BRICS friendship and said that collaboration among member nations in technology, sports and skill development would continue to strengthen. The 87th edition carried the theme “Unnat Bharat Abhiyan”, linking the cycling drive to the broader goal of grassroots development.
The 18th BRICS Academic Forum in Lucknow
The BRICS Academic Forum (BAF) is a Track II platform, meaning it is a dialogue among scholars, think tanks and experts rather than official government negotiators. It is convened by the BRICS Think Tanks Council (BTTC), an MoU-based body, and it is a regular feature of the BRICS process. Its purpose is to generate policy-relevant research and recommendations that feed into the official BRICS agenda.
The 18th edition was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, from 23 to 25 August 2026, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. It was organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), in partnership with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and the University of Lucknow. ORF is the official Indian representative on the BRICS Think Tanks Council. The forum came as BRICS marked 20 years of cooperation, giving participants a chance to assess the grouping’s evolution and its next phase.
What the Forum Discussed
Participants examined ways to strengthen resilience across economic, social, health and climate systems. On the innovation side, the discussions covered start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises, science, emerging technologies, digital public infrastructure, trade and human development. On sustainability, the focus fell on green and transition finance, resilient infrastructure and energy systems. A Youth Townhall on India’s Chairship gave students a chance to interact with officials, including Shambhu L. Hakki, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and BRICS Sous-Sherpa.
The forum produced a compendium titled “BRICS: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, bringing together contributions from 48 authors across more than 25 institutions in BRICS countries. The BRICS Think Tanks Council Recommendations were formally presented to representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs, marking the handover of the academic track’s ideas to the official track. The recommendations identified practical pathways to build economic and climate resilience, deepen cooperation on innovation and technology, advance sustainable development, and support a more inclusive and effective multilateral system.
The Lucknow forum illustrated how BRICS works on two levels at once. While ministers negotiate declarations and action plans, the academic track supplies the research, ideas and long-term vision that shape those documents. Placing the forum in Lucknow, rather than a capital city, also reflected India’s effort to spread the Chairship’s footprint beyond New Delhi and connect global discussions to cities with deep scholarly traditions.
India’s BRICS Chairship 2026: Theme, Pillars and the Road Ahead
India assumed the BRICS Chairship on 1 January 2026 for the fourth time. It had previously chaired the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The year 2026 also marks an important milestone, as BRICS completes two decades since it was formally established in 2006 as a political cooperation forum among Brazil, Russia, India and China. The first BRICS summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009, and South Africa joined as a full member in 2011, turning BRIC into BRICS.
India’s Chairship is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. The theme rests on four pillars. Resilience covers cooperation in economic, social and institutional systems, including health, agriculture, food and energy security, disaster management and supply chains. Innovation covers start-ups, MSMEs, science and technology, digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence. Cooperation covers multilateralism, reforms in global governance institutions and practical development cooperation. Sustainability covers clean and renewable energy, climate action, adaptation, nature-based solutions and sustainable consumption.
Today BRICS comprises 11 member countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Together they account for about 49.5% of the world’s population, roughly 40% of global GDP and around 26% of global trade. India has also been actively shaping the partner country framework, which gives states a channel for structured engagement without full membership.
During its Chairship, India held more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements across more than 25 cities, including the BRICS Youth and Sports Ministers’ Meetings in Visakhapatnam and the 18th BRICS Academic Forum in Lucknow. The 18th BRICS Summit was hosted at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026, where leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the session on inclusive global governance, proposed a BRICS Reform Roadmap focused on representation, responsiveness and rule-making. As the Chairship passes to China for 2027, India’s emphasis has been on turning collective declarations into timely action with last-mile impact.
Key Takeaways
- India chaired the BRICS Youth Ministers’ Meeting and the BRICS Sports Ministers’ Meeting in Visakhapatnam on 22 and 23 August 2026, with Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chairing both and Minister of State Raksha Khadse participating.
- The BRICS Sports Ministers adopted the BRICS Sports Joint Declaration by consensus, reaffirming cooperation in sport through dialogue, mutual respect and inclusiveness.
- India advanced three sports initiatives under its Chairship: a Working Group on Sports Technology, the BRICS Sports Manufacturing Conclave in Udaipur in November 2026, and the BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games in Ahmedabad on 12 and 13 October 2026.
- The BRICS Friendship Cycling Event in Visakhapatnam was held as the 87th edition of Fit India Sundays on Cycle, an initiative started in December 2024 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- The 18th BRICS Academic Forum was held in Lucknow from 23 to 25 August 2026, organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) with RIS and the University of Lucknow, under India’s Chairship theme.
- BRICS was formally established in 2006 and currently has 11 members, representing about 49.5% of the global population and around 40% of global GDP.
- The 18th BRICS Summit was held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on 12 and 13 September 2026, where the New Delhi Declaration was adopted and the Chairship passed to China for 2027.
