New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) The Congress on Monday said it was shocking and shameful that a joint statement was not issued after a meeting of the BRICS+ countries in New Delhi last week, claiming that this was done since India insisted on diluting the language on Israel and Palestine, and it was unacceptable to the representatives of the other member countries.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said India is the only major country to show steadfast solidarity with the Israeli regime that continues its genocide in Gaza and brutal displacement of Palestinians.
“The Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Israel are clearly soulmates, with Israel also now being an important part of the vast predatory Modani empire,” Ramesh alleged.
Congress leaders often use the term “Modani” to claim close links between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani.
Ramesh said the BRICS+ meeting of deputy foreign ministers and special envoys held here on April 23-24 ended without a joint statement.
“Iran and UAE are both part of the 11-member BRICS+ and their divergent positions on the war in West Asia are only to be expected. But what is shocking and shameful is that the other reason for not having a joint statement was India’s insistence on diluting the language on Israel and Palestine which was unacceptable to the representatives from Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, UAE, and Iran,” the Congress leader claimed.
“India is the only major country in the world to continue to show such steadfast solidarity with the Israeli regime that continues its genocide in Gaza, its heavy bombardment of southern Lebanon, and its brutal dispossession and displacement of lakhs of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank,” he added.
Sources said there was no consensus on West Asia at the BRICS+ meet due to differences between member states as India’s position on Palestine remained unchanged.
Sharp differences among the BRICS member states over the US-Israel war on Iran stalled India’s efforts to build a consensus position on the conflict during the meeting of the grouping last week, they added.
There was no change in India’s position on the Palestine issue at all, the sources said, days after the meeting of the BRICS deputy foreign ministers and special envoys on Middle East and North America held in New Delhi.
As consensus on the West Asia conflict eluded, a “chair’s statement” was released at the end of the deliberations. India is the current chair of the BRICS.
The BRICS meeting on the Middle-East could not produce a consensus document because there was a “sharp difference of positions among members who are party to the conflict”, the sources said.
It is learnt that the United Arab Emirates’ position on the conflict resulted in the meeting ending without producing a collective statement. Efforts to bridge the gaps by all others were not successful, the sources said.
Following the BRICS meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said the members had expressed deep concern on the conflict in the Middle East and offered views and assessments on the matter.
In January, India and the Arab League nations had pitched for a sovereign and viable Palestine State living side-by-side with Israel. PTI SKC RC
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