BRICS Agrees Joint Declaration at New Delhi Summit — SkimNews
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- BRICS agreed on a joint declaration at its New Delhi summit on Sep 12, with negotiators crafting language that will condemn unilateral aggression by any country without naming any specific nation.
- The breakthrough followed India-led consultations to bridge competing positions between Iran and the UAE, who are at odds over the Gulf conflict; BRICS foreign ministers had failed to issue a joint statement in May over the same divide.
- Narendra Modi opened the summit declaring the bloc "has come of age" and used his address to reiterate India's longstanding demand for permanent UN Security Council seats for itself and other emerging powers.
- Xi Jinping told delegates that BRICS countries should "firmly stand on the right side of history" by steering the international order toward greater equity and justice.
- Leaders at the summit include Russia's Vladimir Putin, Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- The expanded bloc — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE — represents more than 40% of the world's population and almost a quarter of global economic output, per the article.
Why it matters: Securing consensus between Iran and the UAE at a summit held against the backdrop of US-Iran tit-for-tat strikes demonstrates that BRICS can bridge its deepest bilateral rifts — even if foreign policy experts quoted in the article concede the joint statement is unlikely to shift the geopolitical landscape on its own. The declaration gives the bloc a single voice against Western-dominated institutions like the IMF and World Bank, and amplifies India's push for UN Security Council reform from the host's podium.
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