As New Delhi readies itself to host the BRICS summit, the city's ordinary residents find themselves bearing the weight of a welcome they never chose to extend. Road closures, evictions, and movement restrictions have reordered daily life in the capital, transforming familiar streets into stages for diplomacy. The tension is an old one: when a city is dressed for the world, it is often the people who live there who pay the tailor. What emerges is a question that outlasts any summit — who does a city ultimately belong to, and who decides the cost of its hospitality?
BRICS Summit Preparations Spark Backlash in New Delhi Over Road Closures, Evictions
Residents face displacement through evictions and daily mobility restrictions due to road closures and security measures.