BRICS declaration names few, but sends signals to many

Source: The Financial Express | Original Published At: 2026-09-13 17:04:44 UTC

Key Points

• The New Delhi Declaration at the 18th BRICS Summit addresses wars, sanctions, terrorism, nuclear risks, territorial disputes and humanitarian crises, but uses general language to avoid dividing members.
• The declaration does not name Russia or Ukraine in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war, referring instead to ongoing conflicts, sovereignty and peaceful resolution through dialogue.
• It condemns economic and secondary sanctions not authorised by the UN Security Council without identifying the imposing countries, implicitly covering measures against Russia and Iran.
• On Gaza, the declaration calls for maintaining the ceasefire, ending violence, ensuring full humanitarian access and supporting full UN membership for Palestine.
• The declaration strongly condemns the 22 April 2025 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir and calls for zero tolerance of terrorism and action against cross-border movement, financing and safe havens.
• An analysis cited in the report says the ambiguity helped India secure consensus but also highlighted limits of BRICS as a geopolitical actor.