BRICS Youth Council and Summit 2026: Delegates Tour India’s Statue of Unity on Second Day

The BRICS Youth Council and the accompanying Youth Summit, convened this year in India, entered its second day with a high‑profile field visit to the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue honoring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Delegates from Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India, along with observers from several partner countries, gathered at the monument’s sprawling complex near the Narmada River. Organisers framed the excursion as an opportunity to highlight shared values of unity, integration and nation‑building—principles embodied by Patel’s legacy and central to the BRICS partnership. The itinerary included a guided tour of the museum, a briefing on the engineering feat behind the structure, and a symbolic lighting ceremony that underscored the theme of “Collective Strength for Sustainable Futures,” the summit’s overarching motto.

Beyond the symbolic resonance, the visit served as a platform for substantive dialogue among the youth delegates. Working groups convened in the venue’s conference halls to draft joint proposals on renewable energy cooperation, digital entrepreneurship, and climate‑resilient infrastructure—areas where the BRICS economies seek coordinated action. Participants also engaged in cultural exchanges, with performances of traditional Indian music and dance juxtaposed against presentations of Brazilian samba, Russian folk art, Chinese calligraphy and South African jazz, reinforcing the summit’s emphasis on people‑to‑people connectivity. The day concluded with a joint declaration urging member states to amplify youth participation in policy formulation and to establish a permanent BRICS Youth Innovation Fund, leveraging the collaborative spirit symbolised by the Statue of Unity. Organisers anticipate that the outcomes of these discussions will feed into the final summit session, shaping the agenda for the next BRICS summit and reinforcing the role of young leaders in driving the bloc’s future agenda.