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Informist, Tuesday, May 12, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Ministry of External Affairs Tuesday refused to confirm if there will be participation and at what level from Iran and the United Arab Emirates in the two-day BRICS foreign ministers' meeting to be hosted by New Delhi starting Thursday. Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also refused to say whether a joint statement would be issued after the meeting.

 

"It is for those countries (Iran and the UAE) to decide who will represent them at the meeting. You will get to know as people arrive," Jaiswal said in response to a media query. "Whether there should be a joint statement or not will be decided at the meeting itself."

 

India is the BRICS chair for 2026 and the foreign ministers' meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. BRICS, a bloc focused on economic cooperation, has 11 full-time members--Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia. Iran and the UAE are on opposite sides in the current conflict in West Asia.

 

An earlier meeting of BRICS deputy foreign ministers and special envoys held in New Delhi on Apr. 24 failed to issue a joint statement owing to deep disagreements over the war in West Asia, with participants unable to agree to the language regarding Israel and Palestine, particularly regarding East Jerusalem and criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza.

 

The BRICS foreign ministers last met on the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26. The meeting was chaired by India in its capacity as the incoming BRICS chair for 2026.

 

Responding to a query regarding media reports of Chinese engineers admitting to have actively participated and supported Pakistan during its armed conflict with India from May 7-10 last year, Jaiswal said, "We have seen these reports that corroborate what was known earlier."

 

Jaiswal said Operation Sindoor was a "precise, targeted, and calibrated response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, aimed at destroying state-sponsored terrorist infrastructure operating out of Pakistan and at its behest".

 

"It is for the nations who consider themselves responsible to reflect whether supporting attempts to protect terrorist infrastructure affects their reputation and standing," he added.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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