BRICS Meeting on West Asia Fails to Reach Consensus Amid Differing Positions

New Delhi: No consensus has been reached on West Asia at the BRICS meeting. According to official sources, no consensus document could be reached at the BRICS meeting of officials on West Asia last week. This is because there were considerable differences in the positions of the member states involved in the conflict. According to Indian officials, efforts by all other countries to resolve the differences have not been successful. India holds the chairmanship of BRICS this year and will host a meeting of foreign ministers next month. This will be followed by a summit later this year. The joint statement could not be issued at the BRICS meeting. Due to the lack of consensus on West Asia at BRICS, no joint statement could be issued at the meeting of junior foreign ministers and special envoys last week. Instead, a'Chairman's statement'was issued, saying that the members expressed deep concern over the recent conflict in West Asia and presented their views and assessments on the matter. The discussions included the situation in Palestine and Gaza, the provision of humanitarian assistance, the UNWAR's role in zero-tolerance, and the'zero-tolerance'approach to the conflict.