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 nEw DElhi, lATE ciTy, 20 PAgES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAiPuR, ₹15 SRinAgAR) 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 , lu 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 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 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping depart from New Delhi, Sunday. MEA on whether it has the jurisdiction to entertain a plea by Vimal Elaichi makers, seeking to quash notices issued by the Maharashtra FDA to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff. ‘You cannot say that data centres should not be there. It creates jobs, but regulations will be put in place’ ashwiniBhiDe bMc coMMiSSionER Page 16 Speaking to officials involved, TheIndianExpresshas pieced together this journey, which began 17 days before the US and israelattacked iranand 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 iran, Gulf CounCil to DisCuss hormuz toDay Agreed to put the past behind, look to future: Pezeshkian on Iran-UAE meet New Delhi, September 13 lDelhi hC will pass its order »ContinueD on paGe 2 Pushing ucc, state by state shubhajit roy Happening today 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 firinga bullet.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.” Speaking about the drive against illegal immigrants, Shah said, “All i can say is we will identify each and every individual who has illegally sneaked inside. We will nab and deport illegal Bangladeshis. This much is for sure.” ADAyaftermeetingAbuDhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled binmohamed bin ZayedAl 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 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 BRICS inDia 2026 Jimmy leivon Imphal, September 13 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 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. The firstincident took place 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 identified as Lhingjangai Singsit and 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 armed persons when they were returning home with essential commodities. The deceased have been identified as Julie Singson and Thangvel (roel) Gangte. A woman accompanying them is feared missing. in a statement, Western VillageVolunteers(WVV),aself-defence Kuki group, said that followingthekillings,theattackers »ContinueD on paGe 2 l NAtIoNAl lAw SCHolARS PRogRAMME IDENtIFIES PRoMISINg StUDENtS AND PREPARES tHEM FoR ClAt Navodaya to law college: How a programme is powering rural dreams amaal sheikh for Anshita, the lamp was a reminder of her journey, made possible not only by hard work on The evenings when there but by an opportunity. She is were power cuts in hapur’s part of a larger effort to bring Athsaini village in Uttar Pra- studentsfromplacesthatrarely desh, Anshita rani’s father produce lawyers into the would come home to find her country’smostcompetitivelaw sitting in the dark with a book schools through the national she couldn’t read, so he bought Law Scholars Programme her a rechargeable lamp. (nLSP),aninitiative that identAt 23 and in the ifies promising stuPage 1 final year of the fivedents at navodaya year law course at schools, prepares national Law Unithem for CLAT and versity, Jodhpur, Anshita still supports them through law has that lamp. it’s old now and school. With CLAT registraconsiderably weakened, but it tions underway, students stillholdsaspecialplaceforher. across the country are prepar“it barely works now, but we ing for their law school enstill have it,” she says. trance examinations — includNew Delhi, September 13 anchor AMoNg tHE SElECtED: Anshita Rani from UP, Vaishnavi RK from Kerala, Vedant Deshmukh from Maharashtra, A taruna from Karnataka ing those at nLSP. Started in 2019 as a collaboration between navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and its alumnus Anoop maurya, the nLSP is a fully funded two-year residential programme. for students like Anshita, it presents an opportunitytheyneverhadbefore. Anshita’s family was poor and large — a joint family of 22 people living under one roof. means were few, the house was always crowded, and finding a quiet corner to study was often a challenge. Anshita had never givenlawseriousconsideration. That is, until Anoop mau- rya’s nLSP visited her school and introduced the residential programme. “i had always wanted to do somethingwherepeoplewould listen to what i had to say,” she says. “When Anoop sir spoke about people from backgrounds like ours becoming leaders and shaping policy, it resonated with me.” in 2022, she successfully cracked CLAT and joined JLU. This phase has been challenging to adjust to -- the feeling of beingleftbehindbyclassmates with stronger english and wider networks is constant and New Delhi worrying. But Anshita knows these are just hiccups. “When i met people from across the country – people who are far more confident, articulate and worldly, i realised howsmallmyworldhadbeen,” she says. “There were so many things that i had never known or heard of.” What is NLSP every year, the nLSP conducts outreach sessions across the navodaya network, reaching roughly 10,000 students, mostly from rural backgrounds. Tests across the 600+ JnV schools comprise two written exams and an »ContinueD on paGe 2