The editorial Page: india & China are at a nash equilibrium. Will it hold — that’s the question 6 Monday, SepteMber 14, 2026 Journalism of Courage ahmedabad, late city, 16 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 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 Uniform Civil Code in all 21 nda states before 2029: Shah Express News Service Mumbai, September 13 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 PrimeMinisterNarendraModiaddressesasessiononthe2nddayoftheBRICSSummitinNewDelhi,Sunday.OntherightareChinesePresident XiJinping,SouthAfricanPresidentCyrilRamaphosaandIranianPresidentMasoudPezeshkian;ontheleftareRussianPresidentVladimirPutin, Egypt’sPresidentAbdelFattahEl-Sisi,IndonesianPresidentPrabowoSubiantoandKazakhstanPresidentKassym-JomartTokayev. mea 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 EXPRESS special What led to Iran-UAE consensus: Ceasefire window, 100-hour talks & China, Russia nudge The Indian Express pieces together how brICS talks moved on the inside track 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. 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 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 Ahmedabad 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.” hesaid,“Wehaveruthlessly tacklednaxalismandadopteda zero-tolerance policy on terrorism...Whetheritwasthesurgical strikes or operation Sindoor, it showed the Government’s grit and determination to fight enemieswithoutcompromise.” »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.