Building consensus: On the 18th BRICS Summit, the New Delhi Declaration
The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi resulted in a joint declaration emphasizing reformed multilateralism and global governance. Despite internal tensions, the grouping managed to forge a consensus on trade, local currency usage, and geopolitical issues, including a strong stance on the conflict in Palestine and Lebanon.
Why it matters
The summit highlights the growing influence of the BRICS bloc as a counterweight to Western-led global institutions and its role in mediating regional rivalries.
Reaffirming the importance of reformed multilateralism in a world riven with unilateral actions by superpowers emerged as a binding theme of the 18th BRICS Summit and the New Delhi Declaration . The Summit’s success could be measured by three main parameters — the participation of members at the highest levels, the importance given to intra-BRICS trade cooperation mechanisms and the consensus achieved by Indian negotiators in forging a joint statement in a time of war. The government should be commended for ensuring that Iran and the UAE, two rivals in the West Asian conflict, used the occasion for their highest-level bilateral meeting since the war began. The New Delhi Declaration , which was issued despite scepticism about all the differences within the grouping, presented the BRICS as a formidable front in its 20th year.
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