New Delhi Brics Summit Bridges Member Rivalries and Navigates Global Fractures to Forge Joint Accord

World leaders representing the expanded Brics group convened in the Indian capital this weekend, gathering around a vast circular conference table in New Delhi to address their collective standing in an increasingly volatile international landscape. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the high-level proceedings by urging his counterparts to move beyond passive roles, declaring that the member nations must increasingly act as active "rule-shapers" rather than mere "rule-takers" on the world stage.

The summit brought together several of the most influential political figures across the Global South and Eurasia. Prominent participants seated alongside Modi included Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.

Securing the in-person attendance of such a diverse assembly was widely viewed as a major diplomatic achievement for New Delhi. The participating nations do not form a natural alliance, as several members share long-standing geopolitical grievances, protracted border disputes, and recent histories of direct or indirect military confrontation.

These internal fractures have been particularly visible in recent years. In 2020, Indian and Chinese armed forces engaged in a deadly clash along their contested Himalayan boundary. Meanwhile, the ongoing hostilities across the Middle East have placed Iran and the United Arab Emirates on opposing sides of a regional conflict, with Tehran deploying missiles and drones against its fellow Brics member amidst broader economic disruptions worldwide.

Against this turbulent backdrop, the New Delhi summit served as a crucial forum for member states to recalibrate their bilateral ties and assess the fallout from the war involving Iran. However, bridging fundamental disagreements over the future architecture of the global order and generating concrete, actionable outcomes proved to be a formidable challenge throughout the weekend discussions.

A central point of friction remains the group's underlying purpose and its posture toward the West. For capitals such as Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran, Brics serves primarily as a geopolitical counterbalance aimed at diluting the global dominance of the United States and western European powers.

In contrast, the host nation has consistently resisted attempts to transform the coalition into an overtly anti-Western alliance. Prime Minister Modi explicitly emphasized during the summit that Brics is "not against anyone," underscoring New Delhi’s determination to maintain balanced, strategic partnerships with both Western democracies and non-Western powers.

Former Indian ambassador and veteran diplomat Anil Trigunayat noted that while certain member states desire an adversarial stance toward the West, the grouping does not operate under that premise. In his assessment, India's leadership successfully utilized the summit to advance "strategic autonomy in an era of war" while promoting pragmatic avenues for internal cooperation among member economies.

Despite severe internal differences, the summit managed to achieve consensus by adopting the "New Delhi Declaration" on its opening day. This breakthrough came after two separate Brics ministerial sessions earlier in the year had collapsed without producing a joint communique.

To reach a consensus, negotiators carefully navigated contentious geopolitical issues by avoiding explicit attributions of blame. Addressing the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, the final declaration called for "maximum restraint" and condemned strikes directed at civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities, without identifying any specific actors.

The joint document also reaffirmed support for an established two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. It voiced opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinian populations and rejected actions that could legitimize or prolong territorial occupation, framing these positions strictly within the scope of existing United Nations resolutions.

In a notable departure from previous summit statements, the New Delhi Declaration omitted any reference to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, underscoring the delicate diplomatic compromises required to secure unanimous approval from all participants.

Caution was similarly evident in the declaration's economic provisions. The communique voiced collective concern regarding "indiscriminate rising tariffs" and denounced unilateral sanctions, yet it deliberately refrained from naming the United States directly in an apparent effort to prevent diplomatic escalation with Washington.

Several participating governments were particularly mindful of provoking US President Donald Trump, who has previously criticized Brics initiatives—such as exploring interlinked central-bank digital currencies for cross-border trade—labeling them inherently "anti-American."

Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, observed that the absence of named countries throughout the text reflected the traditional hallmarks of Indian diplomacy. Donthi added that the explicit inclusion of concerns regarding trade tariffs served as a strategic opening for member states to formally convey their dissatisfaction with protectionist trade policies.

Beyond the formal multilateral sessions, the summit provided critical space for bilateral engagements, including sideline talks between Iranian President Pezeshkian and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled. Amid escalating trade pressures and the regional economic shocks generated by Middle Eastern conflicts, Brics members continue striving to reshape international commerce while managing their own profound internal divisions.