Iran-UAE rift clouds BRICS summit as India races for consensus
Deepening tensions between Iran and the UAE, linked to the West Asia conflict, are complicating efforts to reach consensus among BRICS members ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit under India's chairship
India has intensified Sherpa-level consultations to bridge positions among the expanded 10-member grouping before the summit
The BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in New Delhi earlier in 2026 concluded without a joint statement for the first time in the bloc's history, with only a Chair's Statement and Outcome Document issued instead
India's Sherpa for BRICS described the resulting document as reflecting the "common position" of members on most subjects, even though consensus could not be reached on the West Asia conflict specifically
BRICS: Origin, Expansion, and Institutional Structure
BRICS began as an informal grouping and has since institutionalised into a rotating-chairship bloc with its own financial institution, now grappling with the coordination challenges of near-doubled membership.
Key Details
- The "BRIC" acronym originated in a 2001 Goldman Sachs research paper; the first formal BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009
- South Africa was invited to join in December 2010, attending its first summit in 2011 — converting BRIC to BRICS
- In August 2023 (Johannesburg Summit), five new members were invited; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE formally joined on 1 January 2024, while Saudi Arabia has continued to participate without finalising formal accession
- The New Development Bank (NDB), BRICS's dedicated financial institution, was established in 2014 (Fortaleza Declaration) and is headquartered in Shanghai
- India assumed the BRICS chairship on 1 January 2026 (succeeding Brazil) and will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in 2026, under the theme "Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability"
The Iran-UAE rift is the clearest test yet of whether the post-2024 expanded BRICS — now spanning historically rival West Asian states — can function on a consensus basis, with India's chairship directly responsible for managing that test.
Consensus-Based Decision-Making and the Chair's Statement Precedent
BRICS, like most non-treaty multilateral groupings, operates by consensus rather than majority voting; when consensus fails, the chair can issue a statement in its own name rather than a joint statement requiring every member's sign-off.
Key Details
- A "Joint Statement" or "Joint Declaration" requires the explicit agreement of all member states to every line of text; a "Chair's Statement" is issued under the authority of the rotating chair alone and does not require unanimous endorsement, making it the fallback when consensus breaks down
- The BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting (New Delhi, May 2026) marked the first time in the bloc's history that no joint statement was issued at a ministerial-level meeting, with an "Outcome Document" and Chair's Statement substituted instead
- The specific point of failure was language on the West Asia conflict, following the escalation after US-Israeli strikes on Iran; other subjects reportedly saw broader agreement
- Similar consensus-preservation mechanisms exist in other groupings — for example, ASEAN's "ASEAN Way" of non-binding consensus, and G20's use of a "Chair's Summary" when a full Leaders' Declaration cannot be agreed
The ongoing Sherpa-level consultations described in this report are precisely the process of trying to convert what was a Chair's Statement at the ministerial level into a genuine joint declaration at the leaders' summit — the standard diplomatic escalation ladder within consensus-based groupings.
The Sherpa/Sous-Sherpa Mechanism in Summit Diplomacy
"Sherpas" are senior officials (not the head of state/government) who conduct the detailed pre-summit negotiations on communiqué language, agenda, and outcome documents, reporting directly to their leader.
Key Details
- The term originates from G7/G8 summitry and has since been adopted by G20 and BRICS; India's BRICS Sherpa for the 2026 chairship is the Secretary (rank) in the Ministry of External Affairs handling the BRICS portfolio
- Sherpas are supported by "Sous-Sherpas" who handle technical-level drafting before issues are escalated to Sherpa or ministerial level
- The Sherpa track runs in parallel to, but distinct from, the Foreign Ministers' track and the Finance/Central Bank Deputies track, each producing separate strands of the eventual summit outcome documents
The "Sherpa-level consultations" India is stepping up are the standard diplomatic channel for pre-negotiating text that leaders can adopt at the summit without public disagreement, used here specifically to find language on West Asia that both Iran and the UAE can accept.
- BRICS founding summit: Yekaterinburg, Russia, 16 June 2009 (as BRIC); South Africa added 2010-11
- 2024 expansion: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE joined 1 January 2024; Saudi Arabia participates without finalised accession
- Current full membership: 10 states
- New Development Bank: established 2014, headquartered in Shanghai
- India's BRICS chairship: 1 January 2026 – hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi
- BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting (New Delhi, May 2026): first-ever ministerial meeting without a joint statement
- Trigger event for the West Asia rift: US-Israeli strikes on Iran (reported around February 2026)