BRICS Foreign Ministers Agree on Larger Role for Global South, But Disagree on Security Issues
From 14 to 15 May 2026, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar chaired the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in New Delhi in preparation for the BRICS Summit 2026 (#BRICS2026). The meeting convened foreign ministers and diplomats from the expanded #BRICSplus with 11 member states.
The key items on the agenda were multilateral institutional reforms, #GlobalSouth, supply chain resilience, and counter-terrorism. Due to divergences of perspectives on West Asia, it was not possible to issue a joint statement.
Specifically, India sought a condemnation of the Pahalgam attack in April 2025, but China was against calling out Pakistan explicitly. Similarly, Iran wanted #BRICS to band together against the ‘US-Israeli aggression, but UAE objected. Due to the lack of consensus, India resorted to issuing a Chair’s statement with explanatory footnotes outlining expressed reservations.
On the other hand, BRICS+ agreed on the urgent and necessary reforms to the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund created towards the end of World War II. In particular, the BRICS assert that the International Financial Architecture (#IFA), dominated by the Bretton Woods institutions, no longer corresponds to the realities of the emerging multipolar world. At the same time, BRICS member states would like to see New Development Bank, — BRICS’s own Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) — to play a greater role.
India pushed for the use of national currencies in bilateral trade between BRICS member states. However, it believes it might be too soon for a common BRICS currency as an alternative to the US dollar. At the same time, India encourages its trade partners to adopt its Unified Payment Interface to streamline cross-border financial flows.
After its expansion, the BRICS is emerging as the main grouping of the Global South and naturally serves as its resonance box. In the same vein, the BRICS member states all want a greater say in world affairs.