BRICS: What is in the joint statement from the 11 members? • FRANCE 24 English

First for you this hour , the BRICS alliance is meeting in India to discuss the consequences of the wars in the Middle East amongst a host of other topics . Before the summit even got off to a start on Saturday, the bloc's members had already agreed to a joint declaration . Now, it condemns unilateral aggression by any country, and while it does stop short of openly naming any specific nations, it does call for maximum restraint in the Middle East . Now, this is all likely to be framed as a significant diplomatic breakthrough, spurring momentum for a summit that is aimed at boosting the bloc's global clout . Here's uh Narendra Modi. It is clear from today's discussions that the management of the changing world cannot be done with the old institutions . Representation, responsiveness, and rule-making, all three need to be improved . Well, for more on this then, our international affairs editor Andy Hellier joins me from our international affairs desk . Hi there, Andy. So, what ? ? ? Well, first off, I think it's important to point out that the fact that there is a joint statement does show that to some extent they have managed to paper over uh many of the differences uh uh and the tensions that there are within uh the BRICS members . Uh back in uh May at the gathering of BRICS foreign ministers , there was no such uh joint statement . So, uh uh I've picked out just a couple of key points . Uh the first one, a statement expressing concern over the uh continued escalation of tensions uh in the Middle East West Asia, calling for a maximum restraint , as you can see on your screen there , uh and avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation . Now, the statement goes on to say uh uh goes on to criticize deliberate attacks on attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities . So, that will be, of course, interpreted as uh indirect criticism of the US facilities. So, that's one of the first points to to make here with this joint statement . A second point, you can see on your screen there the second quote I've taken from that joint statement . Leaders taking aim at unilateral sanctions not authorized by the UN Security Council . I quote, "We call for the elimination of such unlawful measures which undermine international law and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter." Now, even though no country has been singled out here, BRICS founding BRICS founding member Russia , of course, has faced Western sanctions since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 . Now, just one more point I would make is a few policies will have had a bigger impact on BRICS countries than the policies put in place by US President Donald Trump