Bharat Mandapam emerges as India’s new diplomatic landmark as New Delhi prepares to host BRICS Summit 2026
NEW DELHI: As India prepares to welcome world leaders for the BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi, one landmark building is once again set to occupy the centre of global attention, Bharat Mandapam. The International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan has emerged as a powerful diplomatic symbol of India, providing a grand stage for heads of state, prime ministers, ministers and senior delegates from across the world. The 18th BRICS Summit will be held at Bharat Mandapam on September 12-13, placing the building once again at the heart of global diplomacy.
For India, the BRICS Summit 2026 is more than another international meeting. It is an opportunity to showcase the country’s infrastructure, organisational capabilities and cultural confidence before the world. The arrival of major world leaders at Bharat Mandapam reinforces how the Modi government has expanded India’s capacity to host events of global significance. The building has increasingly become a proud diplomatic symbol, where international diplomacy, economic cooperation and India’s civilisational identity come together under one roof.
The foundation stone of the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre was laid on 22 December 2017 by then Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu at Pragati Maidan. The project was conceived as a world-class convention and exhibition complex capable of hosting government-to-government, business-to-business and international events.
The transformed complex was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 July 2023 and named Bharat Mandapam. Developed as a national project at a cost of approximately ₹2,700 crore, the complex covers around 123 acres and was designed as one of India’s largest Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions destinations.
Its architecture itself strengthens its identity as a symbol of India. The Convention Centre’s form draws inspiration from the Shankha or conch shell, while its interiors and facades incorporate themes such as Surya Shakti, India’s space achievements through Zero to ISRO, and the Pancha Mahabhuta, Aakash, Vayu, Agni, Jal and Prithvi. Traditional Indian artistic elements have been combined with modern technology, giving the building a distinctly Indian yet international character.
Bharat Mandapam first achieved extraordinary international visibility when it hosted the 18th G20 Summit on September 9-10, 2023. It brought together world leaders at a newly built Indian venue and became the setting for major diplomatic engagements and the adoption of the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Declaration.
The complex has subsequently hosted major international conferences, exhibitions and high-level gatherings, including the G20 University Connect Finale on September 26, 2023, while the wider venue has become a major platform for international trade, technology and policy events.
The facilities explain why Bharat Mandapam can handle events on the scale of the BRICS Summit 2026. Its Convention Centre contains auditoriums, meeting rooms, lounges, a business centre and advanced audiovisual infrastructure. The main multi-purpose and plenary halls together can accommodate about 7,000 people, while the amphitheatre can seat 3,000. The complex also has seven exhibition halls, 5G-enabled Wi-Fi, high-speed intranet connectivity and interpretation facilities supporting 16 languages.
The comparison with major powers is significant. Russia has several major venues for international exhibitions, conventions and high-level gatherings, including the EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds in Moscow, developed from the Soviet-era exhibition complex, with its first pavilion completed in 1977, as well as the World Trade Center Moscow, which also houses a major congress centre.
China has the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing, a 530,000-square-metre complex in the Olympic Park, developed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and subsequently transformed into a major convention and exhibition venue. In the United States, major gatherings are similarly spread across several landmark venues, including the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., opened in 2003, and McCormick Place in Chicago, North America’s largest convention centre, with 2.6 million square feet of exhibition space.
As BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi, Bharat Mandapam therefore becomes more than a convention centre. It has become a diplomatic symbol of India before the world, a building where modern infrastructure meets Indian heritage, and where the confidence of a rising India is presented to presidents, prime ministers and delegates from around the world.
