The 11-nation BRICS group issued a rare joint statement on the Middle East war during a summit in New Delhi on Saturday, marking a shift after months of internal disagreement over the crisis.

Chinese President Xi Jinping joined leaders from Russia, Iran, India and other member states in the Indian capital, where he said the Middle East conflict “does not serve the common interests of the international community”.

The group’s foreign ministers failed to reach agreement when they met in New Delhi in May. Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could not find common ground on the war that started with US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

But after intense talks by host India, the bloc overcame its divisions. The move comes as BRICS seeks to expand its global reach and tackle issues like conflict, trade problems and energy security.

Middle East tensions dominate agenda

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

BRICS started in 2009 as a platform for major developing economies that wanted more say in institutions run by Western powers.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders: “We have to transform this pyramid of privilege into a platform of partnership.”

Modi opened the two-day summit by calling for a system “where every country has a voice, every member has a stake and humanity’s development is at the centre of every effort”.

He pointed out that BRICS nations “represent 50 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than 25 percent of global trade”.

Delicate diplomacy on display

Finding balance in the group remains a challenge. India keeps good relations with both Iran and Israel, but also tries to maintain careful ties with Washington.

Iranian President Pezeshkian attended the summit days after warning that the Middle East does not need the United States as a “regional policeman”. The two countries are at war and tensions threaten the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Pezeshkian met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on the sidelines.

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

Modi embraced Putin before talks on Friday. Putin, who last visited India in December 2025, remains one of New Delhi’s most important strategic partners.

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China-India relations in focus

The summit’s other major focus is China. Xi’s visit drew close attention because it is his first trip to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a careful warming of relations between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Xi received a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful outfits. Modi greeted him with a handshake at the summit venue.

Xi and Modi met later, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, without giving more details.

His visit comes six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Tibetan border. Ties have slowly improved through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.

Beijing said before his visit that it was “ready to work with India… by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences”.

The underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved. Both sides keep heavy military deployments along their roughly 3 500-kilometre high-altitude border with Tibet.

“They are looking for ‘early and substantial harvest’ when it comes to the border issue,” said Pradeep Taneja, a China-India expert at the University of Melbourne.

“You cannot have a build-up of your forces on the border… but at the same time say ‘we should continue to have people-to-people relations and economic relationships’.”

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

Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday. The exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, have lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959. They waved placards against Xi’s visit.