Brics leaders unite on Middle East calm despite deep divisions

(From left) Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China’s President Xi Jinping and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa planting trees during the 18th Brics Summit in New Delhi. — India’s Ministry of External Affairs handout pic via AFP

First Published: Sunday, 13 Sep 2026 10:58 AM MYT

NEW DELHI, Sept 13 — Members of the 11-nation Brics group including China, Russia, Iran and India called for calm in the Middle East at a summit in New Delhi on Saturday, overcoming earlier divisions to issue a joint statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who joined Russian, Iranian, Indian and other leaders in India’s capital, told the summit that the Middle East war “does not serve the common interests of the international community”.

Foreign ministers of the Brics grouping had failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May, with Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates divided over the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

But leaders issued a statement on Saturday after intense diplomatic efforts by host India, as the bloc seeks to bolster its global influence and address conflict, trade turbulence and energy security.

“We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia,” the joint statement said, adding the countries “call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation”.

Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.

“We have to transform this pyramid of privilege into a platform of partnership,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders as he opened the two-day summit.

Modi said Brics nations “represent 50 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than 25 percent of global trade”.

But finding balance in the bloc is a tough diplomatic task.

India maintains cordial relations with both Iran and US ally Israel, but is also careful to strike a delicate balance in its ties with Washington.

Iran’s Pezeshkian attended the summit shortly after warning that the Middle East does not need the United States to be a “regional policeman”, with the two countries at war and tensions threatening the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Pezeshkian met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the summit sidelines.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.

Modi embraced Putin before talks on Friday. The Russian president, who last visited India in December 2025, is one of New Delhi’s most important strategic partners.

‘Handling differences’ 

Xi’s participation is also being closely watched because it is his first visit to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Xi was given a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses.

“Although our two countries are different in many respects, they are fully capable of complementing each other’s strengths, supporting one another, achieving mutual success and advancing together,” Xi said as he met Modi, in a video released from New Delhi.

His visit comes six years after a deadly military clash along the disputed Tibetan border between China and India, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.

The underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) high-altitude border.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting that “the two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question”.

Modi “underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border related issues,” the foreign ministry added.

Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry continuing to complicate ties.

“Both sides should... work hand-in-hand to promote high-quality major financial cooperation, advocate an equal and sustainable global order, and foster an economic globalisation that is open and inclusive,” Xi said.

Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday – exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959 – waving placards against Xi’s visit. — AFP