BRICS nations call for 'maximum restraint' in Middle East war

BRICS nations call for 'maximum restraint' in Middle East war.

Key points

• UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are additionally to attend.
• Brazil is represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva campaigning for a fourth term in October elections.
• The Russian president, who last visited India in December 2025, is one of New Delhi's most significant strategic partners.
• Pezeshkian met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the summit sidelines.
• "The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the Brics summit, " remarked Harsh V Pant of India's Observer Research Foundation.

BRICS nations call for 'maximum restraint' in Middle East war. AFPReuters Published September 12, 2026 Updated September 13, 2026 12: 00am. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Members of the 11-nation BRICS group including China, Russia, Iran and India pressed calm in the Middle East at a summit in New Delhi on Saturday, overcoming earlier divisions to problem a joint statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. This person joined Russian, Iranian, Indian and other leaders in India's capital, informed the summit that the Middle East war "does not serve the common interests of the international community".

Foreign ministers of the BRICS grouping had failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May, with Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates divided over the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

As the bloc seeks to bolster its global influence and address conflict, trade turbulence and energy security, but leaders issued a statement on Saturday after intense diplomatic efforts by host India.

"We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia, " the joint statement remarked, adding the countries "call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation".

"We have to transform this pyramid of privilege into a platform of partnership, " Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders as he opened the two-day summit.

Modi remarked BRICS nations "represent 50 percent of the world's population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than 25 percent of global trade". But finding balance in the bloc is a tough diplomatic task.

India maintains cordial relations with both Iran and US ally Israel, but is additionally careful to strike a delicate balance in its ties with Washington.

Iran's Pezeshkian attended the summit shortly after warning that the Middle East does not need the United States to be a "regional policeman", with the two countries at war and tensions threatening the vital Strait of Hormuz.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow's war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.

Modi embraced Putin before discussions on Friday. The Russian president, who last visited India in December 2025, is one of New Delhi's most significant strategic partners.

Xi's participation is additionally being closely watched as it is his first visit to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Xi was given a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses.

"Although our two countries are different in many respects, they are fully capable of complementing each other's strengths, supporting one another, achieving mutual success and advancing together, " Xi remarked as he met Modi, in a video issued from New Delhi.

His visit comes six years after a deadly military clash along the disputed Tibetan border between China and India, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.

For context, the underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3, 500-kilometre high-altitude border.

India's foreign ministry remarked in an official note after the gathering that "the two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question".

Modi "underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border related issues, " the foreign ministry continued.

Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry continuing to complicate ties.

"Both sides should. Work hand-in-hand to promote high-quality major financial cooperation, advocate an equal and sustainable global order, and foster an economic globalisation that is open and inclusive, " Xi remarked.

President Xi Jinping called on Brics member states to oppose sovereignty violations and reject protectionism, speaking at a summit in India, Beijing's state media documented.

Xi informed the gathering that Brics should "oppose violations of other countries' sovereignty and interference in their internal affairs, constructively participate in resolving hotspot issues, " according to state news agency Xinhua.

"As the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region continues to evolve, the war there has caused serious losses to people across the region, " Xi remarked, calling on countries to "uphold the authority of the United Nations" in his remarks, Xinhua noted.

On trade, the Chinese president pressed countries to "reject all forms of protectionism" and "support the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core".

Notably, the comments come less than two weeks before Xi's projected visit to Washington, a major trade rival of Beijing.

Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.

As well as Iran, Brics includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – countries with sharply differing positions on the war introduced by the US and Israel in February.

Brics foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.

"What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of Brics – today looks like a big constraint on Brics, " Pant remarked.

In short, BRICS nations call for ' maximum restraint' in Middle East war is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.