India will host the Brics Leaders’ Summit this weekend, seeking to lift the bloc’s global profile even as the US-led war on Iran splits its membership, with Tehran and Abu Dhabi on opposing sides of the conflict, Reuters reports.

The September 12-13 summit in New Delhi comes more than six months after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, a Brics member since 2024. Brics member UAE, after being hit by Iranian missiles, suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran in August.

Foreign policy experts said the key test for the bloc will be finding language on the Middle East crisis that both Abu Dhabi and Tehran can accept, clearing the way for a joint declaration.

Such a joint statement was unlikely to influence the current geopolitical landscape, but will demonstrate, for instance, that a forum of emerging countries could be united against economically debilitating policies like Western sanctions, they said.

The UAE is expected to be represented by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.