Guterres says BRICS New Delhi Declaration reassures on global multilateralism

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it is “reassuring” that “important powers” believe global crises can be addressed through multilateralism, days after the BRICS Summit adopted the New Delhi Declaration by consensus under India’s chairship.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Guterres said the declaration reflected a strong commitment to multilateralism and to the United Nations. His remarks came in response to a question by PTI on the adoption of the declaration at a time when the UN Security Council remains deeply divided on major geopolitical crises.

“...what is important is to say that the common declaration that was produced is a common declaration with a strong commitment of all of them to multilateralism and by all of them to the United Nations,” Guterres said.

“So from that point of view, it is reassuring that a large number of the important powers that exist in the world believe that multilateralism is the way to address crises and that the UN must be at the centre of those efforts,” he said.

Guterres was responding to a question on how he viewed the bridging of differences that led to consensus on the New Delhi Declaration against the backdrop of a polarised Security Council that has struggled to bring countries together on major global crises. The BRICS grouping adopted the joint declaration by consensus on September 12 after overcoming sharp divisions between Iran and the UAE over the West Asia conflict following a series of back-channel negotiations.

Guterres also noted that not all Security Council members were present at the BRICS meeting. He attended the summit hosted in New Delhi on September 12 and 13 and addressed its Open Session on “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”. He also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Guterres, whose second five-year term as UN chief ends in December 2026, had also travelled to India in February this year to attend the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. His latest comments linked the BRICS declaration to a wider push for multilateralism and a central role for the UN in addressing global crises.