New Delhi, March 25 -- When India assumed the BRICS chair in 2026, it inherited a platform that claims to speak for a more balanced world order. The flagrantly illegal attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran has put that claim under strain. What should have been a moment for collective intervention has instead exposed the limits of BRICS cohesion and, on India's part, hesitation in the leadership of the body.

BRICS, with the original members Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and the bloc's expanded membership, which now includes Iran, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, appears uniquely placed to intervene in the Iranian crisis diplomatically. That must have been what was on his mind when Iranian President Masoud Pezes...