BRICS Summit 2026: Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian set to arrive soon, will meet PM Modi today

BRICS Summit: Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian will arrive in Delhi today at 2 pm, a day ahead of the high-profile BRICS Summit. His flight will land at 2 pm at the Palam Air Force station, according to the schedule released by the government.

In his first visit to India as the President, Pezeshkian will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening. It is also the first visit by an Iranian President to India in over 8 years, since President Hassan Rouhani's 2018 visit.

Masoud Pezeshkian's India visit comes at a time when Iran is locked in a war with the US and Israel. The visit is also critical as Iran and the UAE have been unable to arrive at a common ground on the diplomatic language for the BRICS Delhi Declaration.

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Modi-Pezeshkian SCO meet

Their latest meeting comes days after the two leaders met on August 31 for the first time since the West Asia conflict began on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit. After the meeting, PM Modi said that New Delhi wanted to deepen its longstanding relationship with Iran and expand economic ties.

"Met President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek. Reiterated our commitment to strengthening India's long-standing friendship with Iran across diverse sectors. We want to expand and diversify our trade basket in the times to come," Modi said in a post on X.

They also discussed the prevailing situation in the region. He said, "India will continue to support all efforts aimed at ensuring lasting peace."

During their meeting, Pezeshkian asked Modi to “use India’s extensive contacts with various parties to help them move away from the path of war and bloodshed and return to the path of dialogue and agreement”. The Iranian President cited India's "important position and capacities" in the region and the world as well as deep historical and cultural ties between the two countries.

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Pezeshkian's likely pitch at the mega event

He is expected to prod the multilateral bloc to take a stand against the military offensive by the US against the Islamic nation. Pezeshkian, however, might face resistance from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Coming on the heels of Iran's latest strikes on the UAE, his presence alongside 
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's son Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan could trigger a war of words between the two countries over the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Saudi Arabia will be represented by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhad Al Saud instead of its de factor ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Besides this, New Delhi is working with Russia and Egypt in back-channel negotiations to bridge the differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE to salvage the BRICS joint declaration, Deccan Herald reported.