The 11-member bloc, which accounts for 40%
of global GDP, avoids condemning US-Israel war on Iran, showing divisions within
the group.
·
Joint
declaration adopted: The
11 BRICS leaders unanimously adopted the New
Delhi Declaration on 12 September 2026, despite differences
over the Iran and Ukraine conflicts.
·
Careful
language on Middle East: BRICS
expressed deep concern
over escalating tensions and called for maximum restraint, but
did not name the US, Israel, Iran or Gulf countries.
·
India’s
diplomatic success: India
managed to preserve consensus despite the sharp differences between Iran and the UAE, which
are on opposing sides of the ongoing conflict.
·
Iran
war: The
declaration avoided the stronger language used in the previous year’s Rio
declaration, which had condemned the US-Israeli war on Iran.
·
Nuclear
facilities: BRICS
expressed concern over attacks on civilian
infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards,
indirectly raising concerns about attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
·
Ukraine
war: The
declaration did not mention Ukraine or Russia by name. It instead called for
international disputes to be resolved through dialogue, consultation and diplomacy.
·
Opposition
to unilateral sanctions: BRICS
called for elimination of unilateral
sanctions not authorised by the UN Security Council, a position
particularly significant for Russia.
·
Modi’s
peace role:
According to the Kremlin, Modi
and Xi offered to help facilitate peace talks on Ukraine, with
Putin welcoming their readiness.
·
Strong
support for Palestine: BRICS
explicitly opposed the forced
displacement of Palestinians and attempts to alter the
geography or demography of occupied Palestinian territory.
·
Gaza: The bloc called for an end to the war in
Gaza, unhindered
humanitarian access, support for UNRWA, and full UN
membership for Palestine.
·
Two-state
solution: BRICS
reaffirmed support for a sovereign
Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East
Jerusalem as its capital.
·
US
tariffs criticised: The
declaration condemned unilateral
tariff and non-tariff measures that distort global trade, but
deliberately avoided naming the United States.
·
Trade
and supply chains: BRICS
called for cooperation to safeguard global
trade, supply chains, energy flows and maritime security amid
geopolitical conflicts.
·
Multipolar
world: BRICS
reaffirmed its commitment to multilateralism
and multipolarity, seeking greater opportunities and
representation for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries.
·
UNSC
reform: Putin
called for greater representation of Asia,
Africa and Latin America on the UN Security Council.
·
Global
South as rule-shaper: Modi
urged developing countries to move from being “rule-takers” to “rule-shapers” in global
governance.
·
BRICS
not anti-Western: Modi
stressed that “BRICS is
not against anyone”, signalling India’s effort to prevent the
grouping from being viewed solely as an anti-US or anti-Western bloc.
·
BRICS
significance: The
expanded grouping now represents nearly
half of the world’s population and around 40% of global GDP,
and seeks greater influence in institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and WTO.
·
Core
limitation: The
summit demonstrated that BRICS can achieve consensus on broad principles—multilateralism,
opposition to unilateral sanctions and tariff protectionism—but struggles to
agree when members’ direct geopolitical interests collide.
·
Overall
takeaway: India successfully preserved BRICS unity
through carefully generalised language, allowing the bloc to
present a common Global South position while avoiding direct confrontation with
the US or forcing members to take sides in the Iran and Ukraine conflicts.
Leaders
of the BRICS group of nations unanimously adopted a joint declaration on the first
day of the two-day summit in the Indian capital, New Delhi, despite divisions among
members over the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
The
New Delhi Declaration, adopted on Saturday (12.09.2026), called for restraint in
the Middle East but avoided condemning the US-Israeli strikes or Iran’s targeting
of Gulf countries in the region. It also criticised the global trade war without
naming the United States.
Chinese
President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, were among the
leaders attending the gathering of the 11-member bloc in New Delhi at a time of
global upheaval caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, Trump’s tariff war and the
US’s unilateral decisions to promote its foreign policy.
Al
Jazeera’s Um-e-Kulsoom Shariff, reporting from New Delhi, said the group “steered
clear” of naming any countries, even on the issue of wide-ranging US tariffs. “We’ve
seen BRICS countries who have been targeted, be it India, Russia, China, or any
other, but they have stayed clear,” she reported.
“While
they said unilateral tariffs are condemned and they work against international law,
they have not named the US. So India had to keep in mind
that it has bilateral trade relations with other countries, and so do others.”
Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said BRICS had reached a “coming of age” moment and
called on the Global South to become a “rule-shaper” rather than simply accept rules
set elsewhere.
Here
are key takeaways from the declaration from the summit:
What is BRICS?
The
Global South grouping was initiated in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).
After South Africa joined the grouping four years later, it acquired its current
name BRICS. The bloc has since expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
The
BRICS nations constitute nearly half the world’s population and account for approximately
40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
The
bloc has sought greater influence for developing economies in institutions traditionally
dominated by Western powers and has pushed for reforms to bodies, including the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
Conveying
India’s position, Modi insisted that the bloc should not be interpreted simply as
an anti-Western project.
“BRICS
is not against anyone,” he said, while arguing that the Global South should play
a bigger role in shaping global governance.
US-Israel war on Iran
The
war was one of the biggest tests of whether the expanded BRICS could reach a common
position.
Leaders
expressed “deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions” in the Middle
East and called for “maximum restraint”, while urging countries to avoid actions
that could further aggravate the situation. It did not mention the US, Israel, Iran
or the Gulf states explicitly.
The
joint statement issued at the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro last year had condemned
the US and Israeli war on Iran, calling it a “blatant breach of international law”.
China’s
Xi said in a statement the war “does not serve the common interests of the international
community”, and called for a political settlement and a permanent and comprehensive
ceasefire.
In
May, BRICS foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement amid differences
over the war. Iran is a member of BRICS, as is the UAE, which has faced Iranian
attacks during the conflict.
Former
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao said New Delhi scored a “significant
diplomatic success” in securing a declaration despite “sharp differences between
Iran and the UAE”.
“Consensus
was preserved, but only through carefully generalised language. In this, BRICS’s
value and its limitation was exposed: it can keep difficult conversations alive
and affirm broad principles, but it struggles to assign responsibility or organise
collective action when there is the occasional collision of the interests of its
members,” she posted on X.
The
declaration also raised concern over deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure
and peaceful nuclear facilities protected by International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) safeguards – language that could be seen as an indirect criticism of US and
Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
During
the 12-day war in 2025, the US bombed three main Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz,
Isfahan and Fordow.
Praveen
Donthi, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said expectations for
the BRICS summit were low due to geopolitical turbulence and clashing strategic
interests.
“The
members, invested in the success of this non-Western grouping, would be reasonably
satisfied with the modest outcome,” he said.
Donthi added that India used its strong ties with
all members and worked behind the scenes to release the declaration, overcoming
the biggest hurdle: convincing the UAE and Iran, who are on opposite sides of the
ongoing conflict.
Russia-Ukraine war
The
Ukraine war remains another source of tension within BRICS, particularly because
Russia is a founding member of the group.
The
declaration issued a generic call for international disputes to be resolved through
“dialogue, consultation, and diplomacy” without mentioning Ukraine.
However,
BRICS leaders criticised unilateral sanctions not authorised by the United Nations
Security Council.
“We
call for the elimination of such unlawful measures, which undermine international
law and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter,” the statement said.
The
position is significant for Russia, which has faced extensive Western sanctions
since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. India, meanwhile, has maintained
close relations with Moscow, importing oil from Russia amid disruption to global
oil supplies since the US-Israel war on Iran broke out.
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said on Sunday that Xi and Modi offered their services for
peace talks on Ukraine, and that Putin welcomed their readiness, state news
agency TASS reported.
Last
year, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as a penalty for its purchase
of Russian crude. India has since cut down its imports of Russian crude oil.
Support for Palestinian statehood
BRICS
adopted much more explicit language on Palestine.
The
declaration expressed “firm opposition” to the forced displacement of Palestinians
and to attempts to change the geography or demography of the occupied Palestinian
territory.
It
called for an end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, unhindered humanitarian access,
support for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and full UN membership
for Palestine.
The
bloc also reiterated its support for a two-state solution and the establishment
of a sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem
as its capital.
US tariffs
The
declaration raised concern over “unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures” that
distort trade, while also opposing sanctions imposed without UNSC authorisation.
Washington
has imposed tariffs on several BRICS countries, including China, Russia and India,
and President Donald Trump has previously described the grouping as “anti-American”.
He threatened additional tariffs against countries aligning themselves with it.
Speaking
at the summit, Putin accused countries “accustomed to thinking in colonial categories”
of using tariffs, sanctions and “brute force” to contain emerging competitors.
At
the same time, the bloc called for cooperation to protect global trade, supply chains,
energy flows and maritime security as wars disrupt international commerce.
Multipolar world
BRICS
reiterated its “commitment to strengthening multilateralism and multipolarity”,
noting that a multipolar world can expand opportunities for Emerging Markets and
Developing Countries (EMDCs) to develop “constructive potential and enjoy universally
beneficial, inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic globalisation and cooperation”.
Putin
called for greater representation for Asia, Africa and Latin America on the UNSC
and argued that the shift towards a multipolar world was being resisted by established
powers.
Xi
said BRICS countries should help steer the international order towards greater “equity
and justice”, while Modi called for the Global South to move from being a rule-taker
to a “rule-shaper”.
“We
have to transform this pyramid of privilege into a platform of partnership,” Modi
told the summit.
Yet
India has also sought to distance BRICS from the idea that it exists simply to confront
the West. “We are not against anyone; rather, we strive to move forward with the
approach of taking everyone along,” he asserted.