The editorial Page: india & China are at a nash equilibrium. Will it hold — that’s the question 10 MoNDAY, SEPtEMBER 14, 2026 JournalisM of Courage mumbAi, lAte city, 20 PAges ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com dA i ly f r o m : A h m e dA b A d , c h A n d i gA r h , d e l h i , j A i P u r , ko l k AtA , l u c k n o W , m u m b A i , n Ag P u r , PAt n A , P u n e , vA d o dA r A REg.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REgN. NO. 1543/57 SUmmIT CONCLUDES: INITIATIvES INCLUDE EArLy wArNING SySTEm ON INfECTIOUS DISEASES, SUPPLy CHAIN frAmEwOrk Modi flags ‘weaponisation’ of tech; Xi announces open-source AI for BRICS Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde in Mumbai, Sunday. AkAsh PAtil Uniform Civil Code in all 21 NDA states before 2029: Shah Express News Service Mumbai, September 13 The Uniform Civil Code will be implemented across all nDA-ruled states before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters in mumbai, Shah said, “Some states have introduced UCC. it is our resolve to enforce UCC in all 21 BJP-led nDA-ruled states before 2029 Lok Sabha polls.” responding to other questions, Shah said the “Government is discussing with its alliance partners and various groups” on the implementation of the national register of Citizens (nrC) in manipur. Listing the Government’s “major reforms”, he said, “our Government abolished Triple Talaq, which gave equal rights to muslim women. We scrapped Article 370 without shedding a drop of blood and firingabullet.Kashmirisanintegral part of india.” Shah said, “in the last 12 years,theBJP-lednDAgovernment has pushed major reforms on many fronts, including social, economic and criminal justice. The Bharatiya nyaya Sanhita (BnS) has been effectivelyenforced.Therateof convictionrecordedinoneyear is 30 per cent.” »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pushing UCC, state by state Amit Shah’s announcement underlines the BJP's shift from a national push for UCC to a state-led approach — a line the Sangh Parivar expressed in 2022-23 — with Uttarakhand's code, in force since last year, as the template. Gujarat, Assam and MP have followed with similar legislation; MP’s Bill is awaiting assent. All four state laws ban polygamy, require marriage registration, standardise divorce and in- heritance rules, grant women equal inheritance rights, and mandate registration of live-in relationships. Uttarakhand allows deregistration and recognises children from live-in relationships while Assam penalises nonregistration. Responding to RSS concerns, all four laws exclude STs, with Uttarakhand and Assam adding protections for specific tribal customs. E. Manipur flares up again: 2 women among 4 killed THE INDIAN ExPrESS wISHES ITS rEADErS Happy ganeSH CHatuRtHI We are closed today. there will be no edition of the paper on tuesday, september 15, 2026 86 114 140 78 Jimmy Leivon Imphal, September 13 foUr PeoPLe, including two women, were killed in two separate attacks on remote Kuki settlements in manipur’s Tamenglong district on Sunday. one of the two deceased women was pregnant, according to a Kuki group. Thefirstincidenttookplace in Tollen village where a woman and her husband were killed and their son severely injured in an attack by unidentified armed miscreants at 4am. The deceased were identifiedasLhingjangaiSingsitand Seineh Singsit. Their son is undergoing treatment at a Jiribam hospital. Around 3pm, in Longpi village, a man and a woman were killed in an alleged attack by armedpersonswhentheywere »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a session on the second day of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Sunday. On the right are Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian; on the left are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. meA Global South should jointly advance better governance structure, says Putin Shubhajit roy & Divya A New Delhi, September 13 on A day when Prime minister narendra modi warned that "the weaponisation of technologyandcriticalminerals”could hinderprogressandunderlined the need for "inclusivity", Chinese President Xi Jinping on SundayannouncedthatBeijing would lead the creation of an open-source Ai ecosystem for BriCS member nations. modi's remarks are seen as an oblique reference to Beijing's control over the critical mineral supply chain and the US-China leverage battle over access to technology. he was speaking at the concluding session of the two-day BriCS Summit,withXi,russianPresident Vladimir Putin and iranianPresidentmasoudPezeshkian, among other leaders, in attendance. Xi, who spoke after modi, made the announcement as part of a five-point initiative to boost cooperation in technology, manufacturing and trade, even as he called on the bloc to focus on building a large integrated market comprising emerging economies. This is seenasanefforttopositionBeijing as a central technology partnerforBriCSamiditsgrow- business as Usual By EP UNNY eXPRess special what led to iran-Uae consensus: Ceasefire window, 100-hour talks, back-and-forth at top level, nudge from China and russia The Indian Express pieces together how BRICS talks moved on the inside track ing Ai competition with the US. in a statement, the Chinese foreign ministry said Xi called upon BriCS leaders to work towardswritinga"newchapterof strength through unity for the Global South", and asserted that the logic that "might makes right" should have been discarded long ago. Putin, in his address, urged the Global South countries to "jointly advance better (global) governance structure and tacklebothtraditionalandnontraditional security threats.” Addressing the BriCS leaders’ outreach summit, attended by the grouping’s »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 India’s BRICS Sherpa Sudhakar Dalela, Sous Sherpa Shambhu Lingappa Hakki, Joint Secretaries Rajiv Bodwade and Dr Basir Ahmad, and Director Mini Devi Kumam worked closely with the teams of other BRICS member countries regularly Shubhajit roy New Delhi, September 13 A nArroW ceasefire window, talksatthehighestlevel,anudge from Beijing and moscow, support from egypt and Brazil, and nearly 100 hours of down-to- the-wirenegotiationsbyindian diplomats — with experience rangingfromGenevaandWashington to Beijing and the WTo — fell into place to produce the fraughtconsensusonthewarin WestAsiaintheBriCSjointdeclaration Saturday. Sherpas meeting, held in new Delhifromfebruary9to11,that priorities under india’s chairship were outlined. once war broke out on february 28, the rulebook went for a toss. At the second Sherpas’ »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IrAN, GULf COUNCIL TO DISCUSS HOrmUz TODAy Agreed to put the past behind, look to future: Pezeshkian on Iran-UAE meet Shubhajit roy New Delhi, September 13 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping depart from New Delhi, Sunday. meA Speaking to officials involved, TheIndianExpresshas pieced together this journey, which began 17 days before the US and israel attacked iran and killed its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. it was at the first BriCS ADAyaftermeetingAbuDhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin mohamed bin Zayed Al nahyan, on the sidelines of the BriCS Summit here, iranian President masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said they had “agreedtoputthepastbehind... and look to the future”. This is a rare moment from Delhi, where iranian and the United Arab emirates (UAe) leaders met for the first time since the West Asia war began. following hectic negotiations, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian departs from New Delhi, Sunday. meA the two sides had agreed to the BriCS joint declaration adopted on Saturday, which acknowledged the sensibilities of both sides. “We had a good conversation with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and agreed to put the past behind us and look to the future,” Pezeshkian said at the conclusion of his visit to india, according to a statement by the iranian embassy in india. “We also had discussions with the Presidents of russia and China, which were mostly »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BRICS INDIA 2026 inside THE EDITOrIAL PAGE, P 10 at briCs, more oPtions, a win for diPlomaCy PAGES 6, 7 Pm disCUsses trade, defenCe with eGyPt, soUth afriCa and indonesia leaders GUterres baCks demand for UnsC exPansion l KOLHAPUR DISTRICT DISASTER MANAgEMENT AUTHORITy HAS TRAINED 15 TRANSwOMEN SO FAR From hiding identity to pulling people to safety: Meet the transwomen rescue squad Shubham kurale aster management Authority has trained over 2,500 volunteers in the last decade. in 2019, in The last week of August, a it created the state’s first allgroup of people gathered at ra- women rescue unit, the ‘Aapda jaram Lake, pulled on orange Sakhi’ team, which now counts lifejackets,checkedtheirropes, more than 500 trained volunandspent10dayspractisingres- teers. But ahead of this year’s cue drills in the water. it looked monsoon,officialsdecidedtotry something unique. like routine disasterPage 1 “We thought, response training — why not train a until you learned transwomen team,” who they were. They are part of the transgender dis- said Prasad Sankpal, District aster management and rescue Disaster management officer, team, for whom the life jacket Kolhapur.“Soafirst-of-its-kind has come to mean something transgender disaster management and rescue team initiatfar bigger than safety gear. ive was begun in the country.” A new first The first batch of 10 transThe Kolhapur District Dis- women, all associated with the Pune, September 13 anchor Kolhapur-based maitri nGo, went through their inaugural trainingmodulefrommay26to 28. Since then, the district has trained 15 transwomen, with fresh rounds of practice held every three months – the most recent a 10-day exercise at rajaram Lake, late August. recruits learned rescue swimming, how to operate an inflatable rescue boat, dry and wet lifesaving techniques, motorboathandlingandmaintenance, and first Aid and CPr. “So far the results are excellent,”Sankpalsaid.“Theinstitutional strengthening is already visible – the volunteers now help victims of road accidents without any instructions.” Aboard a motorboat during a training exercise. exPress More than a rescue team for the women themselves, the initiative is about some- thing the training manual doesn’t cover. “even today, people see us as sex workers or beggars,” said mayuri Alvekar, founder of maitri nGo, who brought the other volunteers on board. “i believethatsuchopportunities ofworkingwiththeadministrationwouldhelppromoteinclusivity and give us space in mainstream society, while changing the perspective towardsus.Wehavebeenhelping people during disasters or rescue needs but faced discrimination. however, now we are getting recognition and, most importantly, an identity.” “To take the initiative further, i have also created a similarvolunteerteaminDhule and Parbhani,” Alvekar added. SuhasiniDevmane,another team member and maharash- tra’s first transgender tourist guide, spent eight years as an ayurvedicpanchakarmaexpert while hiding who she was. “Despite a desire to contribute to society, many of us had previously been unable to participate in social initiatives due to a lack of opportunities,” she said. “for over eight years, i had to hide my identity – else i would have lost my job, and my financial situation didn’t allowforthatriskthen.ibelieve this training will not only changesociety’sperspectivetowards transgender people but also boost the self-confidence of individuals within the community.” Shivani Gajabar, who is cur- rently pursuing a master of Social Work degree at Shivaji University,Kolhapur,saystheacceptance hasn’t fully arrived yet. “even today, transgender community members feel alienated from mainstream society,”shesaid.“Thoughgiving us a platform in the disaster management rescue team is a welcome step and would help bring inclusivity – and we all would give our best while saving lives – i feel there is a long way ahead to fill the gap. even when i go regularly to attend classes, no one sits on my bench. i’m all alone.” her family cut off contact when she left home in Class 7. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2