Members of the 11-nation BRICS group, including China, Russia, Iran, and India, called for calm in the Middle East in a joint statement issued Saturday at the bloc’s annual summit in New Delhi, overcoming months of internal division to reach consensus on one of the world’s most divisive issues.
“We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation,” the statement read.
The declaration marks a notable diplomatic turnaround. Just four months ago, the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in the same city failed to agree on a joint statement, with member states Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates divided over the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28. That a unified text emerged Saturday came only after intense diplomatic efforts by host India, according to reporting from Arab News.
The stakes were raised further by the fact that the declaration lands at a time when the U.S. and Iran have resumed tit-for-tat strikes against each other, after a pause in fighting for much of August.
Multiple media noted that with both Iran and the Washington-aligned United Arab Emirates inside the bloc, brokering consensus was always going to be a delicate task for New Delhi.
Beyond the call for restraint, the statement went further than diplomatic boilerplate: it warned against deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and on nuclear facilities, in particular, and, per Al Jazeera, voiced “firm opposition” to the forced displacement of Palestinians by Israel.
Ministers also stressed the need to work together to maintain the smooth flow of global trade, supply chains, and energy, in accordance with applicable international law, and noted the current global context of polarization and distrust, and encouraged global action to strengthen international peace and security.
Chinese President Xi Jinping used his address to cast Beijing as a would-be peacemaker, telling the gathering the Middle East war “does not serve the common interests of the international community,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.
His presence carried added symbolism: France 24 and other outlets noted it is his first [visit] to neighboring India since 2019 and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Also in New Delhi for the two-day summit are Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose last visit to India was in December 2025, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, underscoring the bloc’s growing geographic reach since its 2009 founding as a counterweight to Western-dominated institutions.
The summit opened with wars in the Middle East and Ukraine disrupting energy and shipping, tariffs squeezing members, and BRICS countries at odds over how to answer either challenge, while finance ministers and central bank governors have objected to tariffs and non-tariff measures they say distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules.
India, for its part, has leaned further on Moscow to weather an energy crunch stemming from the U.S.-Iran war, even as it tries to preserve ties with Washington.
Xi told delegates the bloc now represents 50 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP, and more than 25 percent of global trade, a reminder of the economic weight BRICS is increasingly trying to translate into geopolitical leverage, even if Saturday’s statement stopped short of any binding commitments and rested, as its own language conceded, on members “recalling their respective national positions.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
BRICS overcame months of internal division after failing to agree on a joint statement in May to unite behind a call for “maximum restraint” in the Middle East, where U.S.-Iran strikes have resumed after an August lull.
It’s a symbolically significant show of unity from a bloc that includes both Iran and the U.S.-aligned UAE, but the statement carries no binding power and rests on vague appeals to national positions rather than concrete action.
