New Delhi: In a carefully choreographed move, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud arrived in India late Saturday for the BRICS Summit, hours after the Abu Dhabi crown prince had departed New Delhi. The Saudi Foreign Minister was the last leader to arrive here, and attended the outreach summit on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has not formally communicated to the BRICS members its acceptance of membership but is invited to all meetings and working groups of the bloc.
Amid regional conflicts and differing stands on Yemen and Sudan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia do not see eye to eye on multiple issues and have had diverging positions based on competing economies and ambitions.
Both, however, remain members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Both countries are US allies and also took part in the BRICS Summit in Delhi despite internal divisions.
Interestingly, in Delhi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time since the beginning of the US/Israel-Iran war. Pezeshkian later said in an interview with Indian media that Iran had no problem with the United Arab Emirates, but with American bases in the region being used to launch attacks against Tehran.
No Saudi official has met Iranians since the beginning of the war. The last meeting between the two countries was in 2025 when Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman visited Iran and met the Ayatollah after the two countries restored relations in 2023.
#WATCH | Delhi: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan departs from India after BRICS Summit 2026. pic.twitter.com/cw3XPOlTTz
— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2026
In the BRICS Summit, India also succeeded in securing a New Delhi Declaration that condemned the war in Gaza and the wider conflict in West Asia without taking any names. The earlier foreign ministers’ meeting in May had led to no joint statement amid differences over language on the West Asia war.
Warmly welcome Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud @FaisalbinFarhan for the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
India looks forward to his participation and to further deepening cooperation among BRICS partners towards a more… pic.twitter.com/xzxthFWBvK
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 12, 2026
The Saudi-Emirati disagreements have also played out in the energy sector. The UAE announced in 2026 that it would withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in May following years of disagreements over oil production policy and amid broader tensions surrounding the regional conflict.
Yet, the rivalry has not prevented moments of solidarity. The UAE on Saturday put out a statement of condemnation over the Iraqi and Houthi attack on the East-West pipeline.
“The drone attacks, launched from Iraqi territory, constitute a flagrant violation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and a threat to its security and stability,” the Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the statement.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: UAE-Saudi Arabia rivalry & what Emiratis’ OPEC exit amid war in Iran means for Gulf’s oil cartel