Elections and diplomacy set to shape New Delhi's packed 2026 calendar

As India enters a busy election year in 2026, Archis Mohan explains how domestic politics and foreign engagement will intersect

After a relatively quiet electoral year in 2025, New Delhi is bracing for a far heavier political and diplomatic calendar in 2026, with multiple Assembly elections, key Rajya Sabha contests and an active schedule of foreign engagements.

 

The year 2025 saw just two Assembly elections — in Delhi at the beginning of the year and in Bihar towards the end. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in Delhi after 27 years and emerged, for the first time, as the single largest party in Bihar.

 

The challenge sharpens in 2026, with Assembly polls due by April-May in one Union Territory and four states — Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam. Of these, the BJP currently heads a government only in Assam.

 

Equally significant for the ruling party will be the biennial elections to 72 of the Rajya Sabha’s 245 seats. The BJP will seek to improve on its current tally of 103 members, aided by its Assembly performances in Maharashtra and Bihar.

 

Elections in the neighbourhood

 

New Delhi is closely tracking political churn in the neighbourhood, particularly in Bangladesh and Nepal, where incumbent governments were ousted by protest movements in 2025.

 

Bangladesh is scheduled to hold general elections on February 12, followed by Nepal on March 5. Multi-phased elections in Myanmar — the first since the military coup that toppled the civilian government in 2021 — began on Sunday and will continue into January. Several international organisations have described the Myanmar exercise as a “sham” election.

 

International engagements and trade priorities

 

India will also watch the United States midterm elections later this year, even as both the White House and the National Democratic Alliance government in India seek to resolve the impasse over the bilateral trade agreement.

 

A breakthrough could revive plans for India to host the Quad Summit, which had been scheduled for 2025.

 

Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, which will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. Officials are hopeful the long-pending India–EU free trade agreement could be signed during the visit.

 

India will also host the AI Impact Summit in February, expected to be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and several other heads of state and government.

 

Key foreign visits lined up

 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to visit India with a large business delegation, a trip seen as important as India seeks to diversify exports amid punitive US tariffs.

 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also slated to visit, with trade and industrial cooperation expected to feature prominently.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India in the first week of December.

 

Ukraine has expressed interest in a visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though dates are yet to be finalised. A visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which could not take place in 2025, is also under discussion.

 

Nordic countries have conveyed their interest in hosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the India–Nordic Summit, postponed last year due to Operation Sindoor.