Iran war: Why the BRICS foreign ministers'
meeting in India matters
The
foreign ministers' meeting is taking place before the 2026 BRICS summit in
India in September.
By Sarah Shamim
A meeting
of BRICS foreign ministers kicked off in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on
Thursday, with the Iran war likely to cast a shadow on the two-day event, which
coincides with United States President Donald Trump’s state visit to
China.
In his
opening remarks on Thursday, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
called for “safe, unimpeded maritime flows” through international waters,
as the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes,
remains under blockade.
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Iranian
Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi called on fellow BRICS
member states to condemn the US and Israel over what he called their “unlawful aggression” against
Tehran.
This
meeting comes as the economic bloc of leading emerging economies has faced
divisions over the war in Iran. Host India has to walk a diplomatic tightrope
between Iran and fellow BRICS member UAE, as well as Israel.
Here is
more about the foreign ministers’ meeting, who is attending, and why it
matters.
What
is BRICS?
BRICS is a
grouping of major emerging economies seeking to coordinate security and
economic policies to amplify the demands of the Global South within
international organisations and on issues where the West has traditionally
dominated economically and politically.
The
acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The
organisation was called BRIC in its initial form – Brazil, Russia, India, and
China – when its foreign ministers began meeting in 2006, and when it held its
first summit in 2009. It became BRICS when South Africa joined in 2010.
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