BRICS Clinches Joint Declaration as Leaders Meet in New Delhi

BRICS leaders reached agreement on a joint declaration as their summit opened in New Delhi on Saturday, according to people familiar with the negotiations, marking a diplomatic breakthrough for a bloc seeking to deepen its global influence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose country is hosting the gathering, told fellow leaders that the grouping had matured and that its shared positions now needed to be converted into tangible outcomes on the world stage.

The declaration is not expected to single out any nation, but will voice opposition to unilateral aggression by any country, the sources said. Leaders were expected to formally adopt the document later in the day. India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Negotiations covered several contentious subjects, and India held sustained consultations to reconcile competing positions, an Indian source with direct knowledge of the discussions said. The source described securing consensus as a particularly complex diplomatic task given the conflicts and heightened tensions in the Gulf region.

Foreign policy analysts had identified the Middle East crisis as the central test for the grouping, which needed wording acceptable to both Abu Dhabi and Tehran before a joint statement could be issued. A similar effort by BRICS foreign ministers in New Delhi in May ended without a joint statement because of differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

Experts cautioned that such a statement was unlikely to alter the current geopolitical landscape, but said it would signal unity among emerging nations against economically punitive measures such as Western sanctions.

Among those attending were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Xi said BRICS countries should stand on the right side of history and steer the international order toward greater equity and justice.

Modi used the opening session to press the case for the Global South, saying that while the bloc is strengthened, the direction of global reform must also be set. He said developing nations are at the front of the line when global crises strike but at the back when decisions are made, and called for a shift from a pyramid of privilege to a platform of partnership in which every country has a voice and every member a stake.

He renewed India's long-standing demand for expansion of the UN Security Council, including permanent seats for India and other emerging powers, saying such reform can no longer be delayed. The message of the summit, he said, should be that if the future is shared, the right to shape it must be shared as well.

New Delhi, which maintains strong ties with the United States, Russia, Israel, Iran and Gulf Arab states, is balancing competing relationships while pushing BRICS members to expand trade cooperation, lower barriers and open up business opportunities.

BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Formed in 2009 to challenge a world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies, the group accounts for more than 40% of the world's population and nearly a quarter of the global economy. It has sought to raise its profile by shaping international rules and demanding reform of institutions including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, which some members see as dominated by Western powers.