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Noting that BRICS+ meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys held in New Delhi on April 23-24 2026 ended without a joint statement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday alleged that the Modi government insisted on "diluting the language on Israel and Palestine" and said "India is the only major country in the world to continue to show such steadfast solidarity with the Israeli regime".
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh said a reason for the lack of consensus at the meeting was the divergent positions of Iran an UAE on the West Asia crisis, and this was only to be expected. "The BRICS+ meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys held in New Delhi on April 23-24 2026 ended without a joint statement. Iran and UAE are both part of the 11-member BRICS+ and their divergent positions on the war in West Asia are only to be expected," he said. "But what is shocking and shameful is that the other reason for not having a joint statement was India's insistence on diluting the language on Israel and Palestine which was unacceptable to the representatives from Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, UAE, and Iran," he added. The Congress leader accused Israel of "genocide" in Gaza. "India is the only major country in the world to continue to show such steadfast solidarity with the Israeli regime that continues its genocide in Gaza, its heavy bombardment of southern Lebanon, and its brutal dispossession and displacement of lakhs of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Israel are clearly soulmates, with Israel also now being an important part of the vast predatory Modani empire," he said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that a joint statement could not be issued following the BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) meeting, which took place on April 24 in the national capital, as member countries were unable to reach a general consensus due to differences over the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in the region, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that only a "chair summary" was released following the meeting, as "general consensus could not be reached among the members" who took part in the meeting due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. "A Chair's Summary was released, as a joint statement could not be achieved. A joint statement was not possible because a general consensus could not be reached among the members--the delegates who attended the BRICS MENA meeting--regarding the ongoing conflict in West Asia," Jaiswal said. (ANI)
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