Modi Forges BRICS Consensus in Shadow of Worsening Iran War - bloomberg.com

**Modi Forges BRICS Consensus in Shadow of Worsening Iran War**

New Delhi hosted the 2026 BRICS summit under India’s chairmanship at a time when the conflict in Iran has deepened, raising concerns over regional trade routes and energy markets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the meeting with a call for “collective resilience,” stressing that the bloc’s unity was essential to cushion member economies from external shocks. The atmosphere was marked by a mix of diplomatic choreography – from “car diplomacy” rides with President Xi Jin‑ping and President Vladimir Putin to a joint condemnation of the violence in Pahalgam – that signaled both personal rapport among the leaders and a concerted effort to keep geopolitical tensions from spilling into BRICS cooperation.

The summit culminated in the **New Delhi Declaration: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability**, released on 12 September 2026. The document outlined a multi‑year agenda that prioritises the development of micro‑, small‑ and medium‑enterprises (MSMEs) across the five nations, a sector India highlighted as a “growth engine” for inclusive prosperity. Energy security featured prominently; while NDTV’s editorial argued that India must leverage both BRICS and the QUAD to safeguard its power needs, the declaration pledged coordinated research on renewable technologies, joint investment in hydrogen‑fuel projects, and a shared stockpile of strategic petroleum reserves to mitigate the fallout from the Iran war.

Analysts view the consensus as a diplomatic balancing act for New Delhi. By anchoring the summit in themes of sustainability and innovation, Modi positioned India as a bridge between the traditional BRICS focus on multipolar cooperation and the emerging security architecture of the Indo‑Pacific, represented by the QUAD. The outcomes—especially the MSME thrust and the energy‑security framework—are expected to deepen intra‑BRICS trade while giving India leverage to negotiate with western partners on clean‑energy imports and technology transfers. As the Iran conflict continues to strain global supply chains, the New Delhi Declaration may become a reference point for how emerging economies can collectively manage external volatility while pursuing their own development agendas.