West Asia divisions loom over BRICS foreign ministers’ meet in Delhi
NEW DELHI: With divisions over the West Asia conflict remaining to be bridged, foreign ministers of the emerging economies of the BRICS bloc will gather in New Delhi on May 14 and 15 for a high-stakes meeting.
The meeting is expected to test the grouping’s ability to maintain consensus on a key issue amid growing geopolitical fault lines.
Diplomatic sources said the chances of the meeting concluding with a joint statement remain uncertain, with sharp differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates emerging as a major obstacle.
The tensions stem from the recent US-Israel attack on Iran and the return attacks on energy infrastructure in the UAE, and the language to be used in the joint statement.
“In the absence of a joint statement, we will have to come up with a chair statement which will showcase respective country positions. But efforts are on for a consensus,” said an official.
The disagreements had already derailed efforts to adopt a common statement during a meeting of senior BRICS officials on the Middle East and North Africa region held on April 23-24, signalling the challenges facing India as it prepares to assume the BRICS chairmanship in 2026.
The two-day foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and attended by ministers and senior representatives from BRICS member and partner countries.
