Commentary: BRICS found consensus in New Delhi but that also showed\nits limits<\/p>\n
The watered-down language in the joint declaration showed less a\nresolution of differences than the narrowing ground on which consensus\ncan be found, says RSIS\u2019 Nazia Hussain.<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: A 20-second handshake between Indian Prime Minister\nNarendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as a\n140-paragraph joint declaration \u2013 those were the headline-grabbing\noutcomes from the recent BRICS summit that showed both the value and\nchallenges of keeping a disparate grouping together.<\/p>\n
The two-day summit, which marked the 20th anniversary of the\ngrouping, and the first held with 11 members and 10 partner countries,\nconcluded in New Delhi on Sep 13 against the backdrop of a war in the\nMiddle East that has drawn in several member states on opposing\nsides.<\/p>\n
BRICS \u2013 comprising Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia,\nIran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates \u2013\nentered the summit with its divisions clearly exposed. Iran and the UAE\nhave been on opposing sides of the wider conflict, while Iran-aligned\nHouthi forces have carried out attacks against Saudi Arabia. A deeper\ndivide runs between India and China over an unresolved Himalayan border\ndispute and a wider contest over BRICS, with each seeking to position\nitself as the leading voice of the Global South.<\/p>\n
These divisions had already cost the bloc an agreed text in May when\nforeign ministers could not reconcile their positions on the Iran war.\nNegotiations before the recent summit ran for four days and lasted into\nthe early hours of Sep 12, with the difficulty concentrated in the\nparagraph on West Asia, or the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Consensus was eventually forged, with BRICS leaders calling for\n\u201cmaximum restraint\u201d in the Middle East without saying who should\nexercise it. This allowed all 11 member states to sign on, while keeping\ntheir national positions intact.<\/p>\n
A text that all member states could sign on the issue dividing them\nmost sharply should not be dismissed, but the watered-down language\nshowed less a resolution of differences than a potential concern \u2013 the\nnarrowing ground on which consensus can be found.<\/p>\n
CONVENING POWER<\/p>\n
This time, the summit\u2019s most consequential developments occurred\noutside the plenary.<\/p>\n
Mr Xi had skipped the last BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro and had not\nvisited India in seven years. In New Delhi, he and Mr Modi held their\nfirst bilateral meeting on Indian soil since the fatal border clash in\n2020, agreeing that the two countries should be partners rather than\nrivals.<\/p>\n
The handshake between the two leaders lasted some 20 seconds and was\nreplayed widely, underscoring the significance attached to the meeting\nafter years of frosty ties.<\/p>\n
The Iranian president met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on the\nsidelines of the summit, their highest-level contact since the war\nbegan, and both delegations subsequently pointed to de-escalation. What\nthis produces remains unclear, but is nevertheless more than either\ngovernment could arrange bilaterally.<\/p>\n
Such encounters between states with conflicts and deeply different\ninterests and goals were possible partly because of the bloc\u2019s expansion\nin recent years. For example, Saudi Arabia and Iran \u2013 longstanding\nrivals despite their Beijing-brokered agreement to resume diplomatic\nties \u2013 joined in 2023.<\/p>\n
A grouping this divergent was never going to speak with one voice. It\ncan, however, bring states with competing interests to the same\ntable.<\/p>\n
LIMITS OF CONSENSUS<\/p>\n
Agreement is easier to reach when no member has a direct stake in the\noutcome. This was evident in the joint declaration where the bloc\u2019s most\nconcrete commitments were financial.<\/p>\n
Leaders encouraged the New Development Bank (NDB), formerly known as\nthe BRICS Development Bank, to expand local currency financing, which\nlets developing countries borrow in their own money and spares them the\nrisk that a weakening exchange rate inflates their debt. It is an\nunglamorous fix for a problem that has pushed poorer economies into\nrepeated crises, and one the World Bank has been slow to address.<\/p>\n
The declaration also noted progress on the BRICS Multilateral\nGuarantees initiative launched in Rio, meant to draw private capital\ninto projects that struggle to attract it.<\/p>\n
The scale remains modest. The NDB has approved 139 projects worth\nabout US$43 billion in a decade, against the Asian Infrastructure\nInvestment Bank\u2019s US$69 billion across 350 projects committed over the\nsame period. Still, it points to where BRICS has been most useful \u2013 as\nan additional source of finance for countries that want more options\nthan established institutions provide.<\/p>\n
On wars and trade disputes, alignment required delicate balancing and\ncareful phrasing.<\/p>\n
Iran signed the joint declaration but left with less than it took\nfrom Rio, where the 2025 joint statement condemned the US military\nstrikes against it that year. This time in Delhi, the declaration\nreiterated its \u201cserious concern over attacks on civilian infrastructure\nand IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities\u201d but dropped the \u201cstrong\ncondemnation\u201d. The difference is that the UAE, which Iran has launched\nrepeated attacks on, is now a party to the war rather than an\nonlooker.<\/p>\n
The Delhi statement also made no mention of the Ukraine war, a\ndeparture from last year\u2019s summit.<\/p>\n
When it comes to trade, the language follows a similar pattern,\nvoicing serious concern over unilateral tariff measures and condemning\nsecondary sanctions without naming the United States. This was\nunsurprising when several members are managing their own trade and\nsecurity relationships with Washington. The restraint also suits members\nwho resist seeing BRICS cast as an anti-Western bloc.<\/p>\n
WHAT LIES AHEAD<\/p>\n
A grouping that agrees most readily where little is at stake runs the\nrisk of being misread.<\/p>\n
BRICS has been seen as an alternative to the Western-led order when\ncountries lined up to join and dismissed as inconsequential when the\nIran war exposed its lim<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/commentary-brics-found-consensus-in-new-delhi-but-that-also-showed-its-limits-1789944618", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }