- Negotiators are close to finalising the BRICS Joint Statement before the India summit
- Sherpa meeting made progress in narrowing gaps in the draft text
- Remaining issues focus on precise wording of a few sticking points
Negotiators working on the BRICS Joint Statement are nearly ready to settle on the final wording before world leaders come to India on Friday, sources have told NDTV.
The joint statement is being made amid the usual scramble that precedes these summits, countries trying to find language on a handful of difficult geopolitical questions that nobody will end up regretting later, a diplomat who was in the room told NDTV.
Yesterday's Sherpa meeting went well, a source said. Negotiators made real progress narrowing the gaps still left in the text.
"The discussions were positive," one diplomatic source said, noting that what remains is mostly a matter of getting the phrasing right on a few sticking points.
If the remaining gaps close as planned, member countries should have the draft in hand by tomorrow, clearing the way for the joint statement to stand as one of the summit's defining results.
Once that's done, the draft goes out to member countries for review and sign-off.
The Joint Statement is expected to be one of the summit's biggest outcomes - a single document meant to show where the member countries stand on the major issues of the moment and where they're willing to work together.
Sherpas exist for exactly this reason. They're the senior officials who spend weeks hammering out political language before their leaders ever sit in the same room, so there's something usable by the time the summit starts.
Diplomats inside the Sherpa talks say they're racing against the clock now, trying to get the draft finished with time to spare.
Another diplomat said the mood in the room has been constructive, and everyone is aiming for something that reflects consensus, not just language that smooths over the cracks where countries disagree.
A lot of the grind has been in finding wording that every side can accept, without anyone feeling like their priorities got cut from the final draft.
If they pull it off, it would show the bloc can still land on common ground even with members pulling in very different directions internationally.
