BRICS closes summit with call for cooperation

BRICS leaders including China, Russia and India concluded a second and final day of talks in New Delhi on Sunday, discussing "inclusive global growth", after reaching a rare agreement calling for calm in the Middle East. Hosting the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for "cooperation" within the bloc, which he has said represents "50% of the world's population, 40% of global GDP and more than 25% of global trade". He added: "The power of BRICS lies in our diversity and cooperation." BRICS was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers. The group is seeking to bolster its global influence and address conflict, trade turbulence and energy security. "We have tried to push inclusive global growth," Modi told leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the final day of talks. "We may be rooted in different realities, but together we rise through cooperation and blossom for humanity," he said. Putin said the bloc was working to create a "new, more just, multipolar world order". Xi said that a "world without rules is like an intersection without traffic lights; chaos and disorder are inevitable". The first day of the summit on Saturday was dominated by the conflict in the Middle East. BRICS leaders – who also included Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian – issued a statement after intense diplomatic efforts by host India. "We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia," the joint statement said, adding that the BRICS countries "call for exercising maximum restraint". Xi's participation in BRICS was also important because it was his first visit to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.