BRICS Delhi Declaration notes UNSC Resolution 2803, reaffirms 1967 borders
The BRICS New Delhi Declaration, adopted by consensus on September 12, 2026, takes note of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which endorsed US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, and reaffirms a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Its 140 paragraphs do not mention Yemen. It notes the International Court of Justice's provisional measures in South Africa's case against Israel.
Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS2 · Groupings & Agreements; GS2 · International Institutions
Why it matters
Anyone following West Asia can now read, in one text agreed by eleven countries, where India and its BRICS partners stand. Under India's chairship, members including China, Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates took note of the Security Council's resolution on Gaza and backed Palestine's full UN membership and a state within the 1967 borders. Four months earlier, their foreign ministers could not issue a joint statement. The paragraph on the region's tensions names no country and recalls each member's national position. For India, whose Prime Minister raised freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz with Iran's President a day before the summit, the declaration stresses the smooth flow of trade, supply chains and energy.
Prelims pointers
- Arab Peace Initiative: adopted by the Arab League at Beirut in 2002; a land-for-peace offer of normal relations with Israel for withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 lines.
- Article 27, UN Charter: non-procedural Security Council decisions need nine affirmative votes, including the permanent members' concurring votes; by practice, an abstention is not a veto.
- Article 4, UN Charter: a State is admitted to the UN by a General Assembly decision on the Security Council's recommendation; Palestine has been a non-member observer State since 2012.
- International Court of Justice: the UN's principal judicial organ, seated at The Hague; 15 judges elected for nine-year terms by the General Assembly and the Security Council.
- 1967 borders: the lines before the June 1967 war, in which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
- UNSC Resolution 1701 (2006): the Security Council resolution on Lebanon that the declaration wants fully implemented; UNIFIL is the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
- UNRWA: the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; its mandate comes from the UN General Assembly.
- Bab-el-Mandeb Strait: links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Strait of Hormuz: links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, between Iran and Oman.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the UN Security Council, consider the following statements:
1. A substantive Security Council resolution needs at least nine affirmative votes and no negative vote from a permanent member.
2. An abstention by a permanent member of the Security Council is treated as a veto and blocks the resolution.
3. Resolution 2803, which endorsed the Trump-backed Gaza peace plan, was adopted with China and Russia abstaining.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only
1 is correct: under Article 27 of the UN Charter, substantive decisions need nine of the fifteen votes, including the concurring votes of the permanent members. 2 is incorrect: by settled practice an abstention by a permanent member is not a veto; only a negative vote blocks a resolution. 3 is correct: Resolution 2803 passed with China and Russia abstaining, which shows that their abstention did not block it.
Explainers on this topic
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