India's BRICS Presidency and the Iran Crisis: Managing Contradictions, Not Resolving Them

With Iran in BRICS+ and in military conflict with the US, India's BRICS presidency must manage a grouping that cannot speak with one voice on the defining geopolitical crisis of the moment.

BRICS is an economic coordination platform without unified foreign policy machinery. BRICS members have responded to the Iran crisis as individual actors, with India, Russia, and China holding distinct positions.

India co-sponsored a UNSC resolution on Gulf state attacks, called Iranian leadership twice, and sent its Foreign Secretary to the Iranian embassy. Each step was calibrated to avoid full alignment with any party.

With Saudi Arabia and Iran both in BRICS+, pushing a unified position on West Asia would fracture the group. India's realistic role is emphasising dialogue and de-escalation while managing internal diversity.

In an era of overlapping partnerships and situational rather than structural alliances, navigating contradictions without resolving them may be the defining skill of Indian diplomacy.