Hours of negotiations produce BRICS joint declaration in Delhi, sources say
India worked through the night to bridge differences over contentious issues, including the US-Iran war, and secure consensus among members
BRICS countries reached consensus on a joint declaration after hours of intense negotiations over contentious issues, including the US-Iran war, Indian government sources said.
The negotiations continued until around 4am as India led sustained consultations to bridge differences among member states and secure agreement on the declaration, titled "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", the sources said.
The declaration reflects a unified position by the grouping against global terrorism, illicit financial flows, cyber fraud and emerging cross-border scam networks.
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Reaching consensus was particularly challenging as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are all BRICS members despite their differing positions on several regional and geopolitical issues.
Against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts and heightened tensions in West Asia, India worked to reconcile the divergent positions of member states and prevent disagreements over sensitive issues from derailing the joint statement, the sources said.
The agreement followed hours of negotiations and consultations, highlighting the diplomatic challenge of managing an expanded grouping whose members hold substantially different geopolitical positions.
India's efforts focused on identifying areas of common ground and keeping differences over contentious issues from blocking the declaration, according to the sources.
The BRICS declaration also condemned the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 16 lives, and called for zero tolerance towards state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
