BRICS nations call for ‘maximum restraint’ in Middle East

Brazil, India, China and the other seven countries of the BRICS group have called on the rival parties in the widening Middle East conflict to exercise “maximum restraint,” in a joint declaration issued after the first day of a two-day summit in India.

“We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East/West Asia,” reads the so-called New Delhi Declaration signed on Saturday, encouraging dialogue and diplomacy to reach an understanding.

While the countries named the Israeli-Palestinian conflict specifically and called for an end to the forced displacement of Palestinians from occupied territory, the actors in the conflict with Iran were not named.

The BRICS acronym stands for the initial letters of the first five members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Iran is also a member, alongside Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

One goal of the group, which also sees itself as a counterweight to the West, is to coordinate on geopolitical issues.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are among those taking part in the two-day conference, which ends Sunday in the Indian capital.

Addressing the summit, Xi called on BRICS member states to do more to promote peace in the Middle East and the Gulf region, saying China was prepared to play its part, alongside the other members of the group, in establishing peace and stability.

The situation in the region is complex, and the war is inflicting heavy losses on the peoples of the region, the Chinese leader said.

Xi also pointed out that power politics are on the rise, the international order is being challenged and there are growing shortcomings in terms of peace and security. The BRICS nations must stand “on the right side of history,” he urged.

China to lead BRICS in 2027

China will take over the BRICS chairmanship next year. Xi travelled to India for the first time since 2019, and held a bilateral meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Relations between the world’s two most populous countries deteriorated significantly following a fatal incident in 2020 involving soldiers from both sides on the shared border in a disputed area of the Himalayas. Relations have improved somewhat since an agreement in 2024.

The New Delhi trip is part of a series of recent diplomatic efforts by Xi, which have included visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt.