BRICS leaders call for ‘maximum restraint’ in West Asia, condemn Pahalgam attack in joint declaration
The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit on 12 September 2026, expressed "deep concern" over escalating tensions in West Asia and called on all parties to exercise "maximum restraint" and pursue dialogue and diplomacy for a long-term, peaceful settlement.
The declaration is the grouping's first consensus document with dedicated language on West Asia since the February 2026 US-Israeli strikes on Iranian sites, and it flags concern over attacks on "civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities" under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
In a separate paragraph, the declaration condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025 — in which 26 people were killed — and reaffirmed commitment to combating terrorism in all forms, including cross-border terrorist movement and terror financing, while stressing that terrorism must not be linked to any religion, nationality, or ethnic group.
The Pahalgam reference is notable because the 2025 Rio de Janeiro declaration, issued a few months after the attack, had not named it — making its inclusion this year a diplomatic marker of consensus among all BRICS members, including those with close ties to Pakistan.
BRICS as a Grouping and Consensus Decision-Making
BRICS began as "BRIC" at its first leaders' summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009, bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, and China; South Africa joined in 2010, forming "BRICS." The grouping expanded in January 2024 to add Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (Saudi Arabia's accession has remained diplomatically ambiguous), and Indonesia joined as a full member in January 2025, taking membership to 11 countries. BRICS has no charter or binding voting mechanism — every declaration is a negotiated political statement adopted by consensus among all members, not a treaty.
Key Details
- India hosted the 2026 summit (the 18th) under its BRICS chairship, held in New Delhi.
- The New Development Bank (NDB), BRICS' main financial institution, was established via the 2014 Fortaleza Agreement and is headquartered in Shanghai.
- Because consensus is required, any one member can block or dilute language — explaining why sensitive topics (West Asia, Ukraine) are often watered down or omitted.
The West Asia language and the Pahalgam mention both had to clear this consensus bar among members with divergent interests (e.g., Iran on West Asia; countries with Pakistan ties on terrorism), making their inclusion diplomatically significant rather than routine.
Terrorism in Bilateral and Multilateral Diplomacy
Naming a specific terror attack in a multilateral document is a distinct diplomatic category from unilateral statements — it signals that all signatory states, including those with divergent regional alignments, accept a shared factual and moral framing of the event. This differs from bilateral condemnations (e.g., a joint statement between only India and one partner), which require agreement from just two parties.
Key Details
- India has for years pushed multilateral partners (UN, SCO, BRICS, G20) to adopt "zero tolerance" language on terrorism and to avoid distinguishing between "good" and "bad" terrorists.
- The Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025) killed 26 people in the Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir and was followed by India's military response, Operation Sindoor, against terror infrastructure.
- UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) is the foundational multilateral instrument obligating states to criminalise terror financing and cross-border terrorist movement — the same themes echoed in the New Delhi Declaration's language.
The declaration's explicit naming of the Pahalgam attack, and its condemnation of cross-border terrorist movement and financing, mirrors the language template India has long sought in multilateral fora, achieved this time within BRICS.
IAEA Safeguards and Protection of Nuclear Facilities in Conflict
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established in 1957 under the UN, administers "safeguards" — technical verification measures ensuring nuclear material and facilities in member states are used only for peaceful purposes. Attacks on facilities under full IAEA safeguards raise concerns under international humanitarian law and nuclear-safety norms, distinct from attacks on weapons-related sites.
Key Details
- IAEA safeguards agreements derive their legal basis from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), 1968 (in force 1970), under which non-nuclear-weapon states accept safeguards in exchange for access to peaceful nuclear technology.
- The February 2026 strikes on Iranian nuclear-related sites are the specific context referenced by the declaration's language on "civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities."
- The declaration also reaffirmed support for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East — a long-standing but unrealised proposal dating to UN General Assembly resolutions from the 1970s.
By linking West Asia de-escalation language to IAEA-safeguarded facilities, the declaration frames the regional crisis partly through a nuclear-safety and non-proliferation lens rather than purely a conflict-and-ceasefire lens.
- 18th BRICS Summit, hosted by India in New Delhi, 12-13 September 2026.
- Pahalgam attack: 22 April 2025, Jammu and Kashmir, 26 killed.
- BRICS membership: 11 full members as of 2026 (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Indonesia).
- This is the first BRICS consensus document to carry dedicated West Asia language since the February 2026 US-Israeli strikes on Iran.