New Delhi: The BRICS Sherpas are scrambling to find consensus for a joint leaders’ declaration, as differences remain over the language on the situation in West Asia, ThePrint has learnt. The Sherpas have less than 48 hours to find a breakthrough ahead of the leaders’ summit that is set to begin Saturday.
India’s suggested language to ensure consensus between all BRICS member-states, especially on West Asia, likely focuses on the larger principles of unprovoked aggression and the United Nations charter, rather than condemning any specific nation.
Senior officials tell ThePrint that New Delhi remains confident at striking a consensus between all member-states of the BRICS, pointing to the strong bilateral ties India has with both the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
The language focused on ensuring a compromise between the two countries who have been on opposing sides of the war in the region. The BRICS Sherpas have been negotiating largely in person since at least Tuesday. The various drafts of the resolution circulated till Wednesday have yet to find consensus on the language surrounding West Asia.
The Leaders’ Summit begins Saturday, while Sunday is focused on the outreach summit with partner countries and heads of regional organisations invited by India. The sense remains that the UAE-Iran differences, in particular, is the only roadblock left for Indian negotiators to surmount.
A source highlighted that India’s strong ties with the UAE and Iran as well as the “positive and constructive approach” of all member-states to the negotiations will allow it to find a comfortable landing zone on the language surrounding West Asia.
A diplomatic source indicated that there remains certain gaps between the UAE and Iran, while a second diplomatic source pointed to India’s push to ensure a joint leaders’ declaration and ties with all member-states should engender the willingness for a joint declaration.
The second diplomatic source also pointed to the recent thaw in ties between India and China as a further sign of New Delhi’s ability to navigate the challenging issue of West Asia and the contradictory positions of Iran and the UAE.
India is gearing up for the BRICS Summit, with a number of events related to the grouping beginning Friday. Russia has confirmed the attendance of President Vladimir V. Putin, highlighting that a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled for Friday.
The BRICS Business Forum organised for Friday has a leaders’ discussion in the evening, with Modi and other BRICS leaders who reach the national capital on time are set to attend. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to attend the summit, while India is continuing preparations for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
As BRICS expands, consensus remains harder to find
Officials within the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are confident that a joint declaration will be issued, covering all key areas of interest to the grouping, especially on the development priorities of the member-states. The leaders level summits of the grouping held since 2009 have so far been able to paper over issues and ensure a joint statement.
The expansion of the organisation in 2024 and 2025 has made it more complicated for consensus to be found. Until 2023, the grouping consisted of five member-states—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
At the 2023 Johannesburg Summit, it was decided to expand the organisation, with five new members joining in 2024—Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Iran. Indonesia joined the organisation in 2025.
The difficulties of finding a consensus was evident as early as September 2024. A second foreign ministers’ meeting of the expanded organisation was held that year on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, weeks before the leaders’ summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
The meeting ended with no joint statement, as Egypt and Ethiopia rejected the language supporting South Africa’s push for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. In April 2025, the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting under the chairmanship of Brazil also failed to find consensus on a joint statement. The leaders’ summit did end with a joint declaration.
Similarly, the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting chaired by India in May could not arrive at a consensus following the differences between Iran and the UAE. While the foreign ministers’ meeting issued a 63-paragraph statement, member-states had issues with two specific paragraphs – 26 and 29. Iran had not consented to the final language on recalling that “the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
While paragraph 29 focused on ensuring “navigational rights and freedom of vessels of all states in the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.” These two paragraphs had member-states note reservation on parts of the language.
An earlier meeting of representatives of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of the BRICS member-states held in April also failed to find consensus on a number of issues, especially over the perception of the watering down of language on the issue of Palestine and the Gaza Strip.
Member-states, especially Brazil and Egypt, had objected to the language circulated by India during the MENA meeting. At the foreign ministers’ meeting, the member-states found language on the issue that largely supported their national positions on the situation in Gaza.
A diplomatic source indicated that in the ongoing negotiations for the leaders’ declaration, there has so far been no differences on the language circulated with regards to Palestine.
For India, the matter of finding consensus is being considered an important diplomatic marker of bringing opposing sides to the table and engaging in dialogue and diplomacy—its publicly stated position on the various conflicts ongoing globally.
PM Modi has offered New Delhi’s aid to bring both Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, while calling for an end to the almost half-decade long conflict during his meeting with President Putin last month on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of States Summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.
Days later External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made a stand-alone visit to Kyiv, and reiterated India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy. New Delhi was able to find language on the Russia-Ukraine war that was suitable for all members of the G20 during its presidency in September 2023.
However, it should be noted that Ukraine was not a member of the G20, and the negotiations were largely managing the differences of the US, the European Union and its member-states and Russia. This time around, both the UAE and Iran are members of the BRICS.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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