BRICS declaration names the Pahalgam attack for a second year
The New Delhi Declaration condemns the April 2025 attack in the strongest terms and calls for zero tolerance of terrorism. China, a signatory, joined the same condemnation at Rio last year.
The BRICS grouping condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam attack again on Saturday, in a declaration that called for "zero tolerance" of terrorism, action against terrorist safe havens and accountability for those involved.
China joined the other members in signing it. The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the 18th summit, is the second consecutive BRICS declaration to name the attack specifically, after the Rio de Janeiro declaration of July 2025.
What the text says
Both documents condemn the 22 April 2025 attack "in the strongest terms", record that 26 people were killed, and reaffirm the grouping's commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms — including the "cross-border movement of terrorists", terrorism financing and safe havens.
The language in New Delhi is almost identical to that adopted in Rio.
Both also state that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, and that those involved in terrorist activities and those who support them must be held accountable and brought to justice under national and international law.
The New Delhi text reiterates the call for "zero tolerance for terrorism" and a rejection of "double standards" in countering it, and calls for concerted action against all terrorists and terrorist entities designated by the United Nations.
What it does not say
The declaration stops short of attributing the attack to Pakistan. It does not explicitly endorse India's subsequent military response.
That distinction is the substance of what a consensus document can carry. Eleven members, several with close ties to Pakistan, signed a text condemning the act; none of them signed a text assigning it a state.
China's position, before and after
Beijing condemned the Pahalgam attack soon after it happened. At a Chinese foreign ministry press conference on 23 April 2025, asked specifically about it, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said: "We strongly condemn the attack."
He added that China "firmly opposes all forms of terrorism", and expressed condolences to the families of those killed and sympathies to the injured.
Beijing took a different line once India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May. While reiterating its opposition to terrorism, the Chinese foreign ministry said it "regretted" India's military action, and called on India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid steps that could complicate the situation further.
The wider pattern
That shift broadly tracked the international response. The Pahalgam attack drew unusually wide condemnation across geopolitical alignments — the United Nations, the G7, the European Union and governments across the United States, Europe, the Gulf and Asia condemned it and expressed solidarity with India.
The response became more qualified once India acted militarily. Governments that had condemned the attack in plain terms moved to calling for restraint.
Why the repetition matters to Delhi
The Indian Express reports that the repeated BRICS reference gives India a diplomatic marker: within a grouping that includes China and Russia, and which has expanded to include countries with close relations with Pakistan, the attack itself has remained difficult to contest as an act of terrorism.
The reaffirmation comes more than a year after the attack, and amid continuing tension between India and Pakistan over cross-border terrorism.
China's signature is the element India will point to. Beijing is Pakistan's long-standing strategic partner and has frequently shielded Islamabad at international forums; it has now put its name to the same paragraph twice.
The summit context
The declaration was adopted on the second day of the summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the first BRICS summit India has chaired since the grouping expanded to eleven members.
Whether a repeated condemnation in a consensus document changes any member's conduct is a separate question from whether India secured the language. On the second, it did.
