India in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
In September 2026, India's politics were dominated by its hosting of the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi. Leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Putin, South Africa's Ramaphosa and Iran's Pezeshkian arrived from September 11 to 12; Delhi closed schools and government offices and barred non-scheduled flights within 300 km of the capital. Modi told Xi that peace on the border is key to ties and that "differences should not become disputes", and China's airline announced that direct Guangzhou-New Delhi flights would resume after six years. On September 13 the leaders adopted the Delhi Declaration, voicing concern over the Middle East and condemning unilateral sanctions. The BJP called it a diplomatic win while Congress cited Modi's failures. Bangladesh said it was not invited, while India said its prime minister had received two invitations.
The largest domestic dispute concerned the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls. Delhi voters including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Arvind Kejriwal received notices, and the Supreme Court said the Delhi notices appeared machine-generated. Opposition parties alleged "vote theft", Rahul Gandhi flagged 727 exclusions in Delhi, and by September 28 there were calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Three BJP allies sought clarification, the commission ordered a review of changes and said deletions followed due process, and on September 30 the INDIA alliance announced a nationwide campaign starting October 2.
Relations with Pakistan worsened. Naval ships of the two countries collided in the Arabian Sea, and on September 16 each summoned the other's diplomat. At the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar called Pakistan a "serial practitioner of terrorism" while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised Kashmir; India rejected remarks on Kashmir by Turkey's Erdogan. On September 1 a court in The Hague upheld the Indus Waters Treaty, rejecting India's objections to its jurisdiction. Bangladesh said it was reviewing 101 pacts with India.
Other items included the collapse of a building in Delhi's Satya Niketan, after which the city's municipal body said it had demolished 543 properties in 17 days. In elections, the BJP won four of ten Rajasthan municipal corporations, the ABVP won most seats in the Delhi University students' union vote, and Mamata Banerjee's faction backed Congress in the Nandigram bypoll. On September 22 the first V4+India foreign ministers meeting backed India's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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