With opinion divided within the BRICS grouping on the US-Israel war on Iran, a consensus was elusive and Delhi issued a Chair’s summary on Friday and said that “members expressed deep concern on the recent conflict in the Middle East [West Asia] and offered views and assessments on the matter”.
The Chair’s statement is a declaration by the host and the chair of any grouping, which is a summary of the statement, but has not been agreed to by all the members. Usually, a joint statement which is agreed to by all the members is issued after any multilateral meeting. This was a practice in the G20 meetings in the run-up to the summit in 2023, when there was no consensus on the Russia-Ukraine war.
India, which holds the chair of BRICS in 2026, said, “The BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) met on 24 April 2026 in New Delhi, and exchanged views on the current situation in the region. Members expressed deep concern on the recent conflict in the Middle East and offered views and assessments on the matter”.
“The discussions covered the Palestine issue and the Gaza situation, including provision of humanitarian aid, the role of UNRWA, zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, welcoming the ceasefire in Lebanon, the unacceptability of attacks on UNIFIL, post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation in Syria, political settlement in Yemen, stability and development in Iraq, political process in Libya, and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. They agreed to meet again under China’s Chairship in 2027,” it said.
In early March, The Indian Express had reported that on March 13 Tehran reached out to Delhi to take the lead in issuing a statement on behalf of the BRICS, currently chaired by India, condemning the US and Israeli strikes against Iran in the previous two weeks.
This put Delhi in a diplomatic pickle since it has stayed away from taking sides in the ongoing conflict.
The BRICS grouping has Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (the original five), along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which host US bases and personnel, have been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones. The fact that all three countries are in the BRICS has made diplomatic navigation difficult for India. India, which holds the rotational presidency of the grouping for 2026, is expected to host the summit of BRICS leaders later this year.
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With Iran reaching out to India for a statement by BRICS, Delhi had made it public in mid-March that it has been difficult to forge a consensus on the issue because of involvement of BRICS member countries in the ongoing conflict.
Without naming any country, the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “Some members of the BRICS are directly involved in the current situation in the West Asia region, which has impacted forging a consensus on a common BRICS position on the ongoing conflict. As Chair of BRICS, India has been facilitating discussions among members through the Sherpa channel.”
He said that the last virtual BRICS Sherpa meeting was held on March 12. In addition, “Indian leadership has been engaging with leaders of BRICS members in the region. India will continue to engage,” the MEA spokesperson said.
India is likely to host the BRICS Foreign ministers’ meeting on May 14-15, which Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are expected to attend, sources said. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi may join virtually, depending on the circumstances.
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While there are many moving parts as a result of the ongoing conflict and the ceasefire talks between US and Iran, sources said, Delhi is preparing the ground for the meeting of the Foreign ministers.
Senior officials of the BRICS countries are in touch with each other for the Foreign ministers’ meeting, which will ultimately lead to the BRICS leaders’ summit to be held in India later this year. The timing of the BRICS foreign ministers is significant since India has not been able to forge a consensus among the BRICS grouping on the war in West Asia.
