China joins India, Iran as key security officials gather at BRICS

NEW DELHI: Top Indian and Iranian security officials met in New Delhi on Monday, the foreign ministry said, as security chiefs gathered for a BRICS meeting that also included China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Iranian official Ghadir Nezamipour, a senior member of Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council, and discussed the “ongoing situation” in the Middle East, as well as India-Iran ties, the foreign ministry said.

India has long maintained cordial ties with Iran but has had to carefully balance its relationship with the United States, especially during the recent weeks of conflict in the Middle East.

India is heavily dependent on imported energy and its fuel supplies were hit hard during the US-Iran war.

Russia, South Africa, Brazil round out summit presence

Iran’s embassy in New Delhi said in a post on X that Nezamipour also met Wang, with whom he discussed the “implementation of the peace agreement” and expressed Tehran’s “appreciation for China’s political support”.

Wang told Nezamipour that China “supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and national dignity”, according to a readout from the foreign ministry in Beijing.

China also welcomes “the initiation of follow-up consultations” between Tehran and Washington, he said.

“China is willing to work with Iran to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, and deepen practical cooperation, ensuring the steady and enduring development of the bilateral relationship,” Wang said.

Other Brics representatives, including Russia, South Africa, and Brazil, are also in New Delhi.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi said last week that the BRICS meeting would focus on “non-traditional security challenges”.

“They will discuss the rapidly evolving nature of national security challenges, as well as the role of new technologies in emerging security threats,” the ministry said.

Wang last visited New Delhi in August 2025.

Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have improved slowly since a June 2020 clash killed

20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops along their disputed Himalayan border.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2026