New Delhi (Reuters) – India will host the BRICS Leaders Summit this weekend, with the aim of boosting the bloc’s global visibility even as the U.S.-led war against Iran divides its members, with Tehran and Abu Dhabi on opposite sides of the conflict.
The summit, which will take place on September 12-13 in New Delhi, comes more than six months after the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran, a BRICS member since 2024. The conflict has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s main chokepoints for oil trade, pushing crude oil prices above $100 a barrel.
The United Arab Emirates, a BRICS member, after being hit by Iranian missiles since the start of the war, suspended all commercial and financial transactions with Iran in August.
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Foreign policy experts said that the main challenge for the bloc will be to find language on the Middle East crisis that both Abu Dhabi and Tehran can accept, paving the way for a joint statement.
Although such a joint statement is unlikely to influence the current geopolitical landscape, it will demonstrate, for example, that a forum of emerging countries can unite against economically debilitating policies, such as Western sanctions, they said.
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Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will participate in the event in his first visit to India in seven years, underscoring the importance Beijing attaches to BRICS and placing China, alongside host India, at the center of efforts to maintain the cohesion of the expanded bloc.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the Iranian Masoud Pezeshkian, the South African Cyril Ramaphosa, the Egyptian Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Indonesian Prabowo Subianto are also expected to attend, together with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The United Arab Emirates are set to be represented by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Impact of the War
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday (8) that the differences between the United Arab Emirates and Iran had a “negative impact” and hindered the “drafting” of a joint statement, but expressed hope that the leaders could find language acceptable to both countries.
Originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later South Africa, BRICS expanded with the admission of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, reflecting its ambition to represent a broader Global South.
The role of Saudi Arabia in the group remains ambiguous, as the country did not accept full membership but participates with lower-level delegations. The Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, will attend the New Delhi meeting.
“Some of the new BRICS members — Iran, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia — are involved in tensions and do not agree on many points. This is bad news for an entity that operates on consensus,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
“There is an irony here: BRICS expansion reflects its growing appeal and prominence. But that same draw, due to the divergent views of the new members, could make the group less effective.”
In May, the foreign ministers of BRICS failed to issue a joint statement after a meeting in New Delhi due to differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
However, this month, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit offered reasons for optimism, as its members agreed on a text about the conflict with Iran that was acceptable to countries with divergent positions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xi, Putin and Pezeshkian, among others, signed a joint declaration condemning the US and Israel’s military campaign against Iran and Western sanctions.
Former Indian diplomat Rajiv Bhatia said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit’s joint declaration — which, however, does not include the United Arab Emirates — raised hopes that BRICS could overcome this split.
“There was significant progress in Bishkek at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit,” Bhatia said. “Although it has pro-US members, they managed to reach language that was acceptable to all sides.”
Experts also said that protectionism and the unilateral tariff policies of U.S. President Donald Trump gave BRICS countries reasons to unite and may lead to bilateral or trilateral meetings among the leaders of these countries.
This month, Xi is due to travel to the United States. It was not immediately clear whether he would hold talks with Putin in New Delhi on the margins of the summit, prior to his meeting with Trump.
James Whitmore