New Delhi: Consensus has been found for the BRICS New Delhi Leaders’ declaration, sources confirmed to ThePrint. The BRICS Sherpas found consensus early Saturday morning, following more than four days of negotiations in the national capital.
The leaders’ declaration is likely to be announced by around 4 PM. However, negotiations are still on for the iteration of the document.
The BRICS Summit begins Saturday, with the first session scheduled for 3 PM.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce the consensus during his remarks at the session.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are amongst the heads of state present at the BRICS summit.
BRICS as an organisation has so far not released a statement on the war in West Asia, which began on the last day of February following a joint US-Israel strike on Iran. The foreign ministers’ meeting in May could not find consensus over the final language on West Asia, with Iran rejecting paragraphs on the two-state solution
Modi held a bilateral meeting with Pezeshkian Friday evening, where the Indian Prime Minister underlined the necessity of ensuring free navigation and commerce in maritime areas, referring to the current closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.
Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE Saturday.
Both Pezeshkian and the Emirati Crown Prince welcomed the cooperation seen within BRICS under India’s chairship.
For India, striking consensus within BRICS is an important marker of its diplomatic heft. New Delhi in the last few weeks has pushed for both Russia and Ukraine to negotiate an end to the almost half decade long conflict, as India eyes its role as a neutral arbiter in the ongoing global conflicts.
Note: Earlier, ThePrint had reported that the language of the joint declaration would say BRICS members “deplore unprovoked aggression” in West Asia. This was an error.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: The real BRICS story is what China, Russia want & India wishes