The BRICS countries reached a consensus on the leaders' final declaration after negotiations that stretched into Saturday morning, overcoming deep divergences over the wording regarding the Middle East conflict. The understanding was reached hours before the start of the summit in New Delhi, India, and is considered a relevant diplomatic outcome for the host country, which led sustained consultations at official and political levels to prevent divergences from compromising the outcome of the meeting.
The most difficult point of the negotiation centered on how the text would address the conflict between Iran and the Gulf States. Tehran sought an explicit reference to what it considers a unilateral attack on the country and a violation of the UN Charter, while the United Arab Emirates sought recognition of the alleged Iranian aggressions against its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Iran initially resisted having its position absorbed into a generic formulation on sovereignty and territorial integrity, fearing that this would dilute the reference to the attack it claims to have suffered.
The negotiators agreed on a text that will not directly name any country in the Middle East conflict, but that will condemn unilateral warfare promoted by any State. The summit takes place at a time marked by a new escalation between Washington and Tehran, with the resumption of mutual attacks in a conflict that has already lasted six months, after a pause in fighting throughout much of August and a reinforcement of the presence of Houthi rebels, aligned with Iran, in the Red Sea region.
The Palestine issue proved, by comparison, less controversial, with general acceptance in maintaining the wording from the Rio declaration of 2025. The 18th BRICS summit is being held in Delhi, hosted by Narendra Modi, and brings together leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The bloc, which also includes Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, represents more than 40% of the world's population and about a quarter of the global economy.
