India and Iran Demand UN Security Council Overhaul at BRICS Summit

S. Jaishankar, India's External Affairs Minister, led a sustained push to overhaul global governance institutions during a BRICS foreign ministers' conclave in New Delhi on May 15, 2026. Across multiple sessions, Jaishankar argued that the United Nations Security Council reflects an earlier era and cannot keep pace with a multipolar world. He demanded the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent UNSC seats to ensure representation for Asia, Africa, and Latin America, framing the reform as not a matter of choice, but of necessity.

Jaishankar outlined a four-point agenda covering UN restructuring, Security Council expansion negotiations, overhauling international financial architecture to address supply chain and energy vulnerabilities, and strengthening the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core. He also urged Multilateral Development Banks to better deliver climate and development finance for the Global South and warned against non-market practices and concentrated supply chains.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed the call for UNSC reform, arguing that post-World War II institutions cannot handle 21st-century challenges and that structural change is necessary for the UN's survival. Araghchi additionally condemned military strikes against Iranian civilians and infrastructure that began on February 28, specifically citing an attack on the Minab School, and accused the United States and Israel of aggression. He urged the international community to abandon double standards on human life and positioned BRICS as a vehicle for reducing dependence on monopolistic structures through economic and technological cooperation.

Both ministers positioned BRICS as a potential backbone for true multilateralism, with India emphasizing that global cooperation must remain rooted in sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law.