NEW DELHI: Foreign ministers from the BRICS nations began a two-day meeting in New Delhi on Thursday (May 14) as the expanding bloc faces divisions over the war in Iran, rising energy prices and growing global economic uncertainty.
The meeting brings together diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with newer member countries. It comes as the war in Iran has disrupted global energy supplies and driven up oil prices and coincides with US President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov are attending. China is represented by Ambassador Xu Feihong while Foreign Minister Wang Yi remains in the Chinese capital during Trump’s visit.
India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the talks would focus on global and regional challenges and ways to deepen cooperation among member nations.
In opening remarks, Jaishankar said BRICS could help developing countries more effectively respond to the health and financing challenges they face as well as high prices for energy, food and fertiliser.
"We meet at a time of considerable flux in international relations,” he said, adding that emerging and developing countries increasingly expect BRICS to play a "constructive and stabilising role.”
At the meeting, Araghchi urged BRICS nations to condemn the US and Israel over what he called their "unlawful aggression” against Tehran. He called on the bloc members and other countries to "take practical steps to stop warmongering” and end what he described as impunity for violations of the UN Charter.
Araghchi also urged the bloc members to stop what he called the politicization of international institutions. He said Iran appreciated the support shown by BRICS countries but called for stronger action.
"It is necessary for all of us to intensify our efforts to end this sense of superiority and impunity on the part of the United States - a notion that has no place in today’s world,” he said.
Founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS was formed as a grouping of major emerging economies seen as a counterbalance to Western-led institutions such as the G7. South Africa joined in 2010 and the bloc expanded further in 2024 with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia became a full member in 2025.
The group has sought to expand its influence by pushing for a bigger role in a global order long dominated by the United States and its Western allies. It has gained support across parts of the Global South, where many countries have criticized Western-led financial institutions.
But BRICS nations remain divided on key issues.
India and China continue to compete for regional influence, while member countries often differ in their ties with the West. Russia’s war in Ukraine has further exposed those differences.
The bloc’s expansion also has added strains. Competing regional interests have increased the difficulty of presenting a unified position.
Divisions have sharpened further during the growing conflict in the Middle East. Iran and the UAE are BRICS members despite pursuing competing interests in the region.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Wednesday that disagreements within BRICS over the conflict had prevented the bloc from reaching a unified position.
Kazem Gharibabadi told news agency Press Trust of India that "one member country” had pushed for language condemning Iran, complicating efforts to build consensus within the grouping.
"We want India’s BRICS chairship to be successful. It is not a good approach to send a signal to the world that the BRICS is divided. One country is insisting on condemning Iran,” Gharibabadi said. - AP
