Modi's 'We Do Not Oppose Anyone' Line at the 18th BRICS Summit, Explained
Narendra Modi told leaders at the BRICS summit, "We do not oppose anyone." Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping attended the address, according to video of the session dated September 12, 2026. Associated Press
The wording was brief. It came at the leaders-level meeting of the 18th BRICS Summit, the main session where presidents and prime ministers speak. BRICS is the bloc of emerging economies, now expanded beyond its first five members. India hosted the meeting and published the official record. India's Ministry of External Affairs published a Transcript of the Special Press Briefing on the 18th BRICS Summit dated September 12, 2026. Ministry of External Affairs transcript
At that briefing, Shri Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (ER), spoke as the summit was closing. ER stands for Economic Relations, a branch of the foreign ministry. The transcript is the official closing account from the Indian side. It records who briefed, in what role, and when.
Attention then turned to the gala dinner for visiting leaders. It served an all-vegetarian menu with no meat dishes. The Hindu Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Pawan Khera criticised the vegetarian-only menu. Times of India The BJP criticised Congress back over that criticism. The Hindu
To read the coverage in order, it helps to separate the layers. Leaders speak in the plenary, the formal meeting of leaders. The host foreign ministry then briefs journalists at the close. Live coverage and party reaction follow. Each layer holds a different weight as evidence, and the later reporting updates the earlier record on the dinner dispute.
The broader context here is how host governments use short lines and closing briefings to frame a summit before longer papers are read. A transcript named to a senior secretary carries institutional weight, like meeting minutes. A short sentence from the chair, repeated word for word, is built to travel. For diplomats and analysts, the task is to separate the citable record from commentary around it.
In my view, the line worth keeping is Modi's sentence itself, because it stays so open. It states a posture without naming a dispute, a counterpart, or a remedy. That wording lets each delegation hear its own priorities in the chair's summary, while giving outside observers little to test against concrete promises. The closing briefing is where concrete detail would normally be set.
Looking at what this means for summit watchers, two habits help. First, trust the dated transcript over second-hand summaries when describing what India said the summit did. Second, treat the menu dispute as a domestic political exchange about hospitality, not as guidance on substance. Menus show hosting choices. They do not amend leaders' statements. The citable facts from September 12 and 13 are narrow: who attended the address, what sentence the chair used, who briefed at the close, what was served, and who criticised and answered back over that choice.
