BRICS 2026 Summit: Leaders Adopt Joint Declaration in New Delhi

The joint delcaration at the BRICS 2026 summit expressed 'deep concern' over escalation of tensions in the Middle East. China's President Xi. Jingping said the Iran war was not in the bloc's interest. Follow DW for more.

On the first day of the BRICS Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the adoption of a joint declaration. The joint declaration adopted by the BRICS coalition stresses on the need to cooperate to maintain the smooth flow of global trade, supply chains and energy.

"We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation," the statement read.

It is important to keep in mind that, for the first six months of the Iran war, the grouping of Global South nations failed to issue a joint statement. The US-Israel-led attack on Iran has put enormous strain on the bloc. The war directly involves three BRICS members: Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. But not as allies. Iran has attacked the UAE and Saudi Arabia, seeing them as proxies for the US.

Speaking during the BRICS Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the Middle East war, sparked by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, does not serve the world's interests, Beijing's state media reported. "As the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region continues to evolve, the war there has caused serious losses to people across the region," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying in New Delhi.

In his closing remarks for the first session at the BRICS Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the BRICS group of nations unanimously adopted a joint declaration on Saturday, the first day of their annual summit in New Delhi. Reuters news agency, citing four anonymous sources, had earlier in the day reported that members of the BRICS coalition have agreed on a joint declaration which does not name any country but will condemn unilateral war by any country.

As leaders gather in New Delhi for the 2026 BRICS Summit, talk of "de-dollarization" is everywhere. But Anuradha Mitra Chenoy, Professor and former dean at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, argues the real story is more modest, and more interesting. BRICS countries, in her reading, are not on a mission to replace the dollar. What they are doing is settling more of their bilateral trade in local currencies — a shift that has less to do with ideology than with practicality.

Modi met with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The two leaders met at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, where they sought to further strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Modi and Sheikh Khaled welcomed the announcement by UAE-based International Holding Company (IHC) to invest in the development of an $11.5 billion integrated greenfield aluminium project in Odisha.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with the Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali and Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of the ongoing BRICS Summit. Modi thanked both the country heads for their participation in the event and reaffirmed strengthening the bilateral Strategic Partnership with both Malaysia and Ethiopia.

Relations between the two Asian powers, India and China, froze after a deadly clash in 2020 along their disputed Himalayan border, known as the Line of Actual Control. Today’s meeting could mark another step in the cautious thaw between the two nuclear-armed Asian powers, which have spent years drifting apart. But beneath the expected smiles and handshakes, deep mistrust remains — especially over their disputed border and over who gets to shape the future of Asia.