At BRICS, India's Modi warns geopolitical tensions and supply chain shocks threaten global stability

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned that rising geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and climate crises are increasingly affecting people worldwide and called for strengthened cooperation and support across the Global South.

Addressing the BRICS summit of leading developing nations on its second day in New Delhi, Modi also warned that the “weaponization of technology and critical minerals” could hinder global development and shared prosperity.

Founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS has expanded to 11 members representing about half the world’s population and a significant share of global economic output. It has sought greater representation for developing countries in global institutions and promoted alternatives to Western-dominated financial systems.

“The number of conflicts and tensions in the world is continuously increasing, and this is having an increasingly negative and far-reaching impact on the lives of ordinary people,” Modi said, alongside bloc leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“Pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions have shown that in today’s interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region,” Modi said, while announcing that the bloc agreed to establish an integrated early warning system for infectious diseases, aimed at boosting preparedness and response to future outbreaks.

The group in a joint declaration Saturday had expressed concern over escalating tensions in the Middle East and Sudan, and called for disputes to be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

The bloc reiterated support for a multipolar world order and reforms to the United Nations, including its Security Council, as well as global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The leaders opposed unilateral sanctions and coercive economic measures and criticized sanctions not authorized by the U.N. They also criticized rising tariffs and nontariff barriers, saying they undermine global trade and supply chains.

The bloc backed greater use of local currencies in trade and stronger cross-border payment systems, while calling for cooperation on food security, energy, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and climate action.

The declaration was a significant breakthrough, as forging consensus among Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which hold competing positions on key regional and geopolitical issues — posed a complex diplomatic challenge amid ongoing conflicts and heightened tensions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a session of the BRICS Plus Outreach format in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the BRICS Plus Outreach format in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

An illuminated Bharat Mandapam, the main venue of the BRICS summit is seen in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Participants of the BRICS Plus Outreach format pose for a photo in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a session of the BRICS Plus Outreach format in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

An Iranian commercial ship was struck early Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz, with one person killed, Iranian state media say.

Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they fired drones and missiles toward southern Saudi Arabia, putting new pressure on a key U.S. ally in the region. And the presidents of Iran and Egypt have met about the rising regional tensions.

Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

State-run media said an Iranian commercial vessel was stuck off Qeshm Island, the largest island in the Persian Gulf that sits on the Strait of Hormuz, with one person killed and three wounded.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor reported a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, with no details. It was not immediately clear if it was the same strike.

There was no immediate statement by the U.S. military, which previously has struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it keeps up a blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, the military said its forces had redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they fired drones and missiles toward neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed in a statement that they targeted a military base in Sharurah province in the Najran region. He didn’t provide evidence or say when the attack took place.

Sirens went off in the province on Saturday, according to the Saudi civil defense, which didn’t report casualties or damage.

The civil defense overnight also said a projectile fell in al-Tawwal governorate near the border with Yemen along the Red Sea, injuring two people and damaging a mosque and several other buildings. The statement blamed the Houthis.

The escalation in fighting between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed and internationally recognized government risks a return to civil war in Yemen after four years of a truce.

Iraqi authorities said passenger traffic had resumed at key border crossings with Iran after being closed Saturday following drone attacks launched from Iraq that closed Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline.

An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq has denied they were responsible.

Crossings at al-Sheeb in southern Maysan province and Shalamcheh in southern Basra province resumed early Sunday, with trade to resume in the coming days, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, where the group of emerging economies has expressed concern about rising Mideast tensions. China again offered to play its “due role” to forge peace.

El-Sissi told Pezeshkian that Egypt expects Iran to make all possible efforts to de-escalate and achieve a “comprehensive, sustainable and peaceful settlement to the crisis,” according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

The Egyptian leader also urged an end to attacks on Arab countries.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

A motorboat travels past commercial vessels anchored amid haze in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

This photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency shows damage to a building after a projectile fell in Al-Tawwal, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, on the southern border with Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)