New Delhi, NFAPost: Leaders of emerging powers including Russia and Iran projected a united front at a weekend summit in New Delhi, with a joint statement that targeted a US-launched war in the West Asia, Washington’s tariff campaign and its sanctions policy.
The US and President Donald Trump were not mentioned by name, but were in the sights of a 45-page joint communique issued by the 10 Brics nations, which include both friends and foes of Washington.
The statement called for “maximum restraint” by nations involved in the West Asia conflict and expressed “deep concern” over its escalation. It also condemned “deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities.”
The wording, hammered out into the early hours of Saturday, represented a stark appeal for a grouping whose members hold wildly divergent positions in the conflict launched by the US and Israel against Iran more than six months ago — with Tehran on one end and the UAE and Saudi Arabia, not yet a full Brics member, on the other. China and India are major oil importers, directly impacted by the disruption in energy flows from the region.
“There is obvious frustration with Trumpism and the many manifestations of that — unilateralism, the snubbing of the multilateral institutional order, the tariff assault, the neglect of rules,” said Ashok Malik, partner and chair of the India practice at the Asia Group.
The statement was “carefully drafted so as not to take sides between Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE while leaving everyone with something to go home with,” he added.
In comments on Sunday as the meeting drew to a close, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to emphasize cooperation despite “different realities.”
“The Global South’s trust in Brics has steadily increased because its voice is heard in the grouping, its development experience is respected, and solutions are prepared in consultation with it,” he told attendees.
The war in the Persian Gulf has threatened to create new fissures among the Brics members. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian set the tone with a fiery speech on Friday in which he vowed his country wouldn’t surrender.
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