BRICS foreign ministers condemn Pahalgam attack, voice concerns over rise of tariff measures

📌 Summary:

• BRICS foreign ministers, meeting in New Delhi under India's 2026 chairship, issued a strong condemnation of the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in J&K (26 killed) — a diplomatic win for Delhi given that China, Pakistan's ally, is now part of BRICS

• India as chair released a chair's statement that obliquely criticised US President Trump's "arbitrary tariff wars" and the use of unilateral, non-WTO-consistent trade restrictions

• On terrorism, the statement "expressed strong condemnation of any acts of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of motivation, whenever, wherever and by whomsoever committed" and reaffirmed commitment to combat cross-border movement of terrorists, terrorism-financing and safe havens

• On trade, BRICS "voiced concerns over the rise of trade-restrictive actions, including indiscriminate unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures, which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules" — a clear pushback against US tariff escalation

• The meeting could not produce a full joint declaration because of divisions between Iran and the UAE on language about the war in West Asia, forcing India to issue a chair's statement instead

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — global groupings, plurilateral diplomacy, India's chairship of BRICS; GS3 — terrorism, cross-border trade governance and WTO.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• BRICS 2026 chair: India; expanded BRICS membership = Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa + Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE
• Pahalgam attack: April 22, 2025; 26 civilians killed in J&K — a major cross-border terror incident
• BRICS Chair's statement format is used when a full joint declaration cannot be agreed by consensus

🔑 Key Term: Chair's Statement — diplomatic instrument issued by the rotating chair of a grouping when members cannot agree on a binding joint declaration; reflects the chair's view but not consensus.