Chinese president Xi Jinping skipped the gala dinner hosted by prime minister Narendra Modi during the Brics summit as leaders of the developing world gathered in Delhi and adopted a watered-down joint statement.
India hosted the Brics summit at a geopolitically divisive moment in the world.
Two Brics members – Iran and Russia – are embroiled in major wars while several of their allies have faced attacks, instability, and serious disruption as a result of the conflicts.
But the contradictions at the heart of Brics were laid bare in Delhi this weekend.
Brics has expanded to include Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates beyond an original membership of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa two decades ago that aimed to transform a world order dominated by the United States.
In addition, 10 partner countries span emerging economies across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, broadening its reach across the Global South.China and Russia sometimes refer to this larger bloc as "Greater Brics".
The grouping wants to emerge as a powerful voice for the Global South and an influential force in a fragmented world order.
Yet when its leaders sat down to agree on a joint declaration, they avoided directly addressing two of the biggest wars shaping global politics.
The summit culminated on Sunday with Mr Xi staying in India for less than 24 hours – leaving before lunch on Sunday, following a cordial display of relations with Mr Modi, including handshakes, but no signature hug from the Indian prime minister.
It marked Mr Xi’s first visit to India in seven years and his first since the 2020 border clashes between the militaries of the two countries, which not only created a deep trust deficit between the two nuclear-armed neighbours but also led to one of the largest military buildups along their disputed border.
He was represented by foreign minister Wang Yi at the gala dinner on Saturday evening. Russian president Vladimir Putin, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, and others joined Mr Modi at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi.
The leaders of the 11 member countries unanimously adopted the joint statement on the first day of the summit.
The statement adopted by Mr Xi, Mr Putin, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders was described by analysts as muted, carefully curated and watered down. The 45-page New Delhi Declaration was most notable for what it left unsaid.
The statement makes no mention of the Russia and Ukraine war. It refers to the Middle East conflict, making no mention of US or Iran, reflecting the divisions within the grouping.
This was a softer formulation than some previous Brics language, marking a departure from the 2025 Rio de Janeiro declaration, which had at least recalled members’ respective national positions and noted mediation efforts over Ukraine.
The word “war” did not appear even once.
“We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation,” the declaration said in point 28.
The statement stood out, however, for its relatively rare and direct condemnation of actions involving Lebanon.
Member states explicitly condemned continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called on Israel by name to respect the terms agreed with the Lebanese government.
There were growing questions over whether the increasingly diverse 11-member bloc could overcome its deep geopolitical differences and reach consensus at a time of heightened global tensions.
The absence of any direct reference to the Ukraine war in the Delhi Declaration appears to reflect the difficulty of reaching consensus among an increasingly diverse Brics membership, according to Harsh V Pant, vice president of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
“If there has to be a consensus document, then all the countries will have to be on board,” he said, pointing to the different positions of members including Russia, Iran and the UAE.
He said the declaration instead framed conflicts more broadly around their impact on the world and the Global South, while calling for unilateral use of force to be avoided.
“I think it is an indirect way of addressing questions which I don't think can be addressed directly given the membership of Brics,” he said.
But he cautioned against viewing the muted language as evidence that Brics itself is losing influence.
The grouping has become significantly more ambitious in its articulation of its agenda since it was conceived in 2006, when it was primarily a geo-economic platform, he said.
“Almost one-third of the declaration is about international security,” Mr Pant said.
“There was there was a speculation that perhaps Brics will not be able to come to a consensus document, but it did come to a consensus document despite Iran and the UAE being in the room.
“I think there is there is greater confidence perhaps in Brics in terms of defining its its ambitions and and also talking about geopolitical issues,” he added.
Swaran Singh, a professor of international studies, said that “even when the Delhi Declaration was completely roundabout and bland”, India had deliberately pursued an “imperceptible, incremental approach” to difficult geopolitical issues rather than trying to force consensus through stronger language.
He pointed to the warm reception for Mr Pezeshkian in New Delhi, including his body language with Mr Modi, as well as the fact that the Iranian president was the only visiting leader to meet India’s president.
“On geopolitics, I think the focus was to make sure that they did not use language that could be difficult for any side. But one should note that India’s approach to such difficult situations is to act behind the curtain, through an imperceptible, incremental approach,” Mr Singh said.
“When you’re taking 21 nations together, India didn’t want the declaration to become a hostage to simply these two conflicts, where even if the declaration made relatively more direct statements, it’s not going to change the ground reality in these conflicts,” he added.
India has now passed the rotating Brics chair to China, which will host the next summit.
The Delhi Declaration could therefore set a precedent for future meetings if the Ukraine war continues, particularly if Beijing faces similar difficulties in securing consensus among members.
Mr Singh said China was likely to take a different approach to the issue, given its closer relationship with Russia.
“China is even closer to Russia than India. China is even more fragmented compared to India being relatively more principled, and therefore India takes very normative approach of talking about this era is not era of war,” he said.
“I don't think the Chinese will talk about Ukraine in case the war continues till the next meeting.”
