Chaired by India, the two-day BRICS meeting concluded without issuing a customary joint statement for the first time in the bloc’s history.
The BRICS Ministerial Summit in New Delhi on May 14–15, 2026, overlapped directly with the US-China summit in Beijing (May 13–15, 2026), during which United States President Donald Trump held high-level talks with President Xi Jinping.
Chaired by India, the two-day BRICS meeting concluded without issuing a customary joint statement for the first time in the bloc’s history. India only released a Chair’s Statement and Outcome Document, acknowledging “differing views among some members”, as deep divisions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made consensus impossible.
This deadlock in New Delhi occurred as China’s top leadership was engaging closely with the US in Beijing, with its Foreign Minister notably absent from the BRICS meeting to focus on hosting the US delegation.
This left India to manage the fallout of a predictable regional crisis within BRICS, one that followed the 2024 expansion strongly championed by China, which admitted both Iran and the UAE as full members despite their longstanding rivalries and Iran’s conflicts with most Arab League states.
