- BRICS foreign ministers will meet in India to discuss the West Asia crisis and energy supply.
- Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi plans to attend but may change due to regional tensions.
- China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will skip the meeting; Ambassador Xi Feihong will attend instead.
The escalating crisis in West Asia and its impact on the global energy supply chain are expected to dominate deliberations at a two-day meeting of BRICS foreign ministers to be hosted by India this week.
While Tehran has informed New Delhi that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to attend the May 14-15 conclave, sources suggest his plans could change if the situation in the region changes dramatically.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will skip the meeting as his presence is required in Beijing for US President Donald Trump's three-day state visit, which coincides with the BRICS gathering.
Chinese Ambassador to India Xi Feihong will attend the meeting on Wang's behalf, Beijing announced on Tuesday.
Foreign ministers of several BRICS member states including Russia's Sergey Lavrov have already confirmed their participation, the sources said.
The BRICS foreign ministers will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India, as the chair of the BRICS, is hosting the conclave of the foreign ministers ahead of the annual summit of the grouping in September.
It will be interesting to see if the foreign ministerial conclave manages to produce a consensus statement on the conflict in West Asia.
Sharp differences among the member states over the US-Israel war on Iran stalled India's efforts to build a consensus position on the conflict during a meeting of the grouping's deputy foreign ministers and special envoys on Middle East and North America last month.
No consensus statement on the conflict could be reached largely due to differences between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran. The two neighbouring countries have sparred in recent weeks over Iran's alleged attacks on energy infrastructure in the UAE.
After the West Asia conflict escalated, Iran urged India, as the current BRICS chair, to leverage its "independent role" to halt the US-Israel hostilities against Iran.
The BRICS meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
"BRICS foreign ministers and heads of delegation from member and partner countries will participate in the meeting. They will also call on Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
It said the foreign ministers will exchange views on "global and regional issues of mutual interest".
The BRICS member and partner countries will participate in a session themed "BRICS@20: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" on May 15.
It will be followed by a session on the "Reforms of Global Governance and Multilateral System", according to the MEA.
The BRICS foreign ministers held their last meeting on the margins of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 80) in September last.
The meeting was chaired by India in its capacity as the incoming BRICS chair for 2026.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
