US-Iran War shadow over BRICS Summit? Can host India bridge divisions in the Middle East?

India is hosting two-day BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi from today

The BRICS Leaders' Summit is scheduled to be held at Bharat Mandapam. The official theme for this year is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

BRICS was formed in 2006 as an informal BRIC alliance comprising four countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Today, BRICS brings together eleven major emerging markets and developing countries worldwide.

The BRICS Summit comes at a challenging moment for India, as the grouping navigates the fallout from the US-Iran war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.

For New Delhi, the immediate challenge will be to strike a delicate diplomatic balance. The expanded BRICS includes Iran as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, countries with differing interests and positions on the regional conflict.

At the same time, India maintains important strategic and economic relationships with the United States and the Gulf countries. That makes New Delhi's role as BRICS chair particularly significant as it seeks to build consensus among members with competing geopolitical interests.

‘Diplomatic test in forging consensus’

Under these circumstances, India faces a significant diplomatic test in forging consensus at the upcoming BRICS Summit, according to Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

The gathering, Pant argued, occurs at a critical juncture for the international community, and as such, India has a central role to play in steering the platform toward practical solutions for the Global South.

“Fragmentation is growing, and great powers are at loggerheads with each other. Wars are raging across the world from the Middle East to Europe, with no end in sight,” Pant told news agency ANI.

The Global South is a socio-economic and political term used to describe developing, less-developed, or emerging nations, primarily located in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania

The stakes are not merely diplomatic. The US-Iran war has implications for energy security, shipping and global oil markets, with the Strait of Hormuz emerging as a major vulnerability. Any prolonged disruption could have a significant impact on energy-importing economies such as India, according to experts

For India, West Asia is particularly important because of its energy supplies, trade links and large diaspora presence in the region. A prolonged disruption could push up India's import bill, increase inflationary pressures and complicate the country's economic outlook, they said.

Pant noted that deep divisions, ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East, and a failing multilateral system have left developing nations vulnerable.

Why is it a diplomatic test for India?

The BRICS Summit is happening in the middle of the US-Iran war. For India, the challenge would be to strike a balancing act because the expanded BRICS includes both Iran and the UAE, which have opposing interests in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The US-Iran war has exposed the central contradiction within BRICS, according to analysts. While the grouping seeks to challenge a Western-dominated global order, its members have different interests when an actual geopolitical crisis erupts.

The BRICS Sherpas, the most senior negotiators from the 11 member countries of the grouping, are reportedly busy hammering out a joint declaration for the New Delhi summit amid the US-Iran war and its impact on the Middle East following the exchange of strikes between the US and Iran,

The key point of discord is the formulation over the war in West Asia, given that Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are expected to be at the summit table, a report in the Indian Express said on Wednesday, September 10.

With the UAE and Iran, new members of the BRICS since 2024, part of the negotiations, Indian officials, along with the Russians, Brazilians and Egyptians, are working to bridge the gap between the warring parties, the report said.

Iran seeks to rally opposition to US military action

Iran has already sought to use BRICS to rally opposition to US military action, urging India, as chair, to help build a common position.

On 31 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the US-Iran war broke out, impacting the Middle East and beyond, following US and Israeli attacks on Tehran earlier this year.

Pezeshkian urged Modi to use India's extensive contacts with various parties to help them move away from the path of war and bloodshed and return to the path of dialogue and agreement.

Ever since the start of the US-Iran war in February, Tehran has targeted US bases in the Gulf region, including in the UAE, leaving Emiratis and the Iranians at loggerheads.

Indian officials are said to be trying to hold separate meetings with officials from the UAE and Iran and bring them to the same page on the Delhi declaration.

As much progress as the BRICS has made over the last 20 years, however, the grouping also faces significant headwinds, rooted not least in its exceptional internal diversity, writes author and commentator Dr Brahma Chellaney in Project Syndicate, an international nonprofit media organisation that publishes and syndicates original opinions and columns.

“The BRICS includes liberal democracies and authoritarian states, leading energy exporters and major energy importers, manufacturing powers and commodity economies. The grouping also includes geopolitical rivals: China and India, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Egypt and Ethiopia. Divisions exist even among its founding members, with Brazil and India generally advocating reform of existing international institutions, while China and Russia seek to challenge the US-led world order,” he writes.

Lived up to its original promise?

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attendance has been confirmed. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend, too. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will not be at this gathering. Instead, he is sending a top government representative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian are scheduled on Friday. The Modi-Xi meeting is likely to be held on Saturday, the first day of the summit.

As the group convenes in New Delhi for its 18th summit, one might ask whether it has lived up to its original promise, Chellaney asked.

“If that promise was to establish a monetary union, a single market, or a tightly integrated political alliance, the answer is plainly no. But if it was to reshape international relations, broaden the space available to emerging economies on the world stage, strengthen South-South cooperation, and increase pressure for reform of existing international institutions, the BRICS has exceeded expectations,” he said.

As per the schedule, the summit will begin on September 12 with a closed-door session for BRICS member countries themed ‘Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism’.

The first day’s engagements will conclude with a dinner hosted by PM Modi.

On Sunday, the second day, the leaders from BRICS member states, partner nations and outreach invitees will gather for the open session, titled ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth’.

Complete schedule of the two-day summit

Saturday, 12 September 2026

-2 PM: Arrival of BRICS Leaders (BRICS Member Countries)

Venue: Level 2, Bharat Mandapam

-2:35 PM: Closed Session for BRICS Member Countries: “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism”

Venue: Summit Hall, Level 2, Bharat Mandapam

-4:25 PM: Witnessing “Bharat Innovates Exhibition (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)

Venue: Hall 14, Bharat Mandapam

-5:05 PM: Family Photo (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)

Venue: Outside Lawns, Bharat Mandapam

-5:10 PM: Joint Tree Plantation (Leaders of BRICS Member Countries)

Venue: Outside Lawns, Bharat Mandapam

-7:30 PM: Gala Dinner hosted by the Prime Minister

Venue: Level 3, Bharat Mandapam

Sunday, 13 September 2026

-9:55 AM: Arrival of Leaders (HOGs/HODs) of BRICS Partner Countries/Outreach Invitees

Venue: Level 2, Bharat Mandapam

-10:35 AM: Family Photo

Venue: Level 2, Bharat Mandapam

-10:50 AM: Open Session “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”

Venue: Summit Hall, Level 2, Bharat Mandapam