New Delhi: India is holding “frank” discussions with BRICS member nations on having a consensus declaration at the upcoming New Delhi summit of the grouping, focusing on resolution of the conflict in West Asia through dialogue and diplomacy and to ensure free flow of maritime commerce, official sources said on Thursday.
As the current chair of the influential grouping, India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the top leaders expected to attend the summit.
The discussions are focusing on ensuring territorial integrity, free flow of maritime commerce and protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure as well as resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, the sources said.
Global oil supplies have suffered severe disruptions following Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — considered the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, through which roughly 20 per cent of global petroleum flows.
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the grouping’s member states in May had ended without a joint statement as sharp differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the West Asia conflict were on full display.
At the end of the foreign ministerial meeting, India had issued a chair’s statement and outcome document featuring two specific paragraphs where unanimity could not be reached.
BRICS operates under a framework of consensus and India had issued a chair’s statement and outcome document featuring two specific paragraphs where unanimity could not be reached.
We are holding candid talks with the BRICS member nations to arrive at consensus on all important issues, the sources said in response to a question on whether the New Delhi summit of the grouping will be able to produce a declaration.
BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.
Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.
It emerged as an influential grouping as it brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5 per cent of the global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of the global trade.
In a media statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India’s BRICS chairship is guided by the theme: ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of ‘Humanity First.’
In addition to these areas, the leaders will exchange views on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation on common priorities and share perspectives on global and regional matters of mutual importance, it said.
“Under India’s chairship this year, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across India to further strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges,” it said.
“Through these engagements, and business-to-business and people-to-people initiatives, India’s BRICS chairship has contributed to advancing BRICS cooperation through practical and development-oriented outcomes,” it added.
India is a founding member of BRICS, and has previously held its chairship three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1. The year 2026 also marks a milestone as BRICS completes 20 years since its establishment.
Over the years, BRICS has steadily evolved into a comprehensive framework for cooperation across the three foundational pillars of political and security, economy and finance, cultural and people to people exchanges.
