BRICS Leaders Negotiate Joint Declaration in New Delhi Amid Divisions on West Asia

New Delhi: Suspense mounted on Saturday over whether leaders at the two-day BRICS Summit in New Delhi will reach a consensus on a joint declaration, amid sharp divisions between Iran and the UAE over the West Asia conflict, even as India works to shield the Global South from growing geopolitical turmoil.

Multiple diplomatic sources told PTI that hectic consultations are underway to arrive at a consensus on the thorny issue, but added that negotiations could go down to the wire as both Iran and the UAE harden their positions.

BRICS is a consensus-based grouping, meaning any single member can block a final joint declaration.

In a strategic balancing act, New Delhi is looking to leverage the summit to position the grouping as a complementary engine for economic growth while being mindful of sensitivities of the United States and other Western powers, especially in the trade and energy domains.

As the BRICS chair, India has placed the Global South at the heart of its agenda by seeking actionable solutions for food, energy, and supply chain security primarily to insulate the developing nations from the economic consequences of the conflicts.

The summit will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung. Many other global leaders are also joining it.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, New Development Bank (NDB) President Dilma Rousseff and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Chief Zou Jiayi will also be attending the BRICS Summit.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.

BRICS emerged as an influential grouping as it brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5 per cent of the global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of the global trade.

India's chairship of the grouping centred on the four pillars: resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.

Under the resilience pillar, India has been focusing on strengthening collective cooperation in areas such as health, agriculture, food, energy, disaster risk reduction and supply chains, officials said.

Enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity and high technology will also be high on the agenda of the summit, they said.

India's BRICS chairship is guided by the theme: 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', reflecting its vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of "humanity first."

In addition to these areas, the leaders will exchange views on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation on common priorities and share perspectives on global and regional matters of mutual importance, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Under India's chairship this year, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across the country to further strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

India is a founding member of BRICS and has previously held its chairship in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026.

According to the MEA, the summit will begin on Saturday with a closed-door session for BRICS member countries themed "Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism."

Following the session, leaders will tour the "Bharat Innovates Exhibition. They will then assemble on the lawns of Bharat Mandapam -- the summit venue -- for a family photo, followed by a joint tree-planting ceremony.

The first day's engagements will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Sunday, leaders from BRICS member states, partner nations, and outreach invitees will arrive starting at 9.55 am, followed by an official group photo.

The open session, titled "Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth," is scheduled to begin at 10.50 am.

The summit is expected to culminate with the release of the New Delhi Declaration. Formalised at the 2006 UN General Assembly, BRIC held its first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.

The group expanded to BRICS after agreeing to admit South Africa during the 2010 UNGA Foreign Ministers' meeting, with South Africa joining its first summit in Sanya in 2011.