Modi Meets Five Leaders in Delhi After BRICS Summit Wraps Up
PM Modi held bilateral meetings with five visiting leaders in New Delhi after the BRICS summit, which ended with a joint declaration on global reforms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a string of bilateral meetings in New Delhi on Sunday with the leaders of South Africa, Egypt, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Burundi, shortly after the BRICS summit concluded.
Modi met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, shaking hands with each delegation before sitting down for talks.
In his closing remarks at the summit, Modi said the deliberations of the past two days had reinforced the view that BRICS is not merely a group of nations but an ecosystem of solutions.
Founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the bloc has since grown to 11 members, together accounting for roughly half the world's population and a substantial share of global economic output. It has pushed for greater representation of developing countries in global institutions and for alternatives to Western-dominated financial systems.
In a joint declaration issued on Saturday, the group voiced concern over mounting tensions in the Middle East and Sudan and urged that disputes be settled through dialogue and diplomacy.
The leaders restated their support for a multipolar world order and for reforms to the United Nations, including its Security Council, as well as to global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
They rejected unilateral sanctions and coercive economic measures, and criticised penalties that lack UN authorisation. Rising tariffs and non-tariff barriers also drew their censure, with the leaders saying such steps undermine global trade and supply chains.
Reaching the declaration was seen as a notable breakthrough, given that Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hold competing positions on key regional and geopolitical questions, making consensus a delicate task amid ongoing conflicts and heightened tensions.