India welcomes US-Iran pact with cautious optimism: NSA Ajit Doval

Addressing the BRICS NSA meeting, Doval said the US-Iran agreement could stabilise energy security and ease supply-chain pressures on key commodities

Addressing the meeting of  National Security Advisors (NSAs) of Brics nations, Ajit Doval,  National Security Advisor of India, said on Tuesday that India welcomes the US-Iran agreement to end the conflict in West Asia with “cautious optimism”

 

Doval, who chaired the meeting, said India hoped that the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would stabilise global energy security and remove supply chain bottlenecks for key commodities and fertilisers. “The opening of the Strait of Hormuz is a very welcome development. It will remove supply chain bottlenecks and (address) shortages in sectors like fertilisers and chemicals,” he said.

 

India, the current chair of the grouping, will host the Brics Summit in September. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian NSA Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ghadir Nezamipour, and other top security officials attended the meeting.

 

 

In his address, the Chinese Foreign Minister urged Brics countries to jointly respond to global challenges, including global energy and food security, Ebola to artificial intelligence, and to strengthen cooperation on strategic mineral resources, according to a statement from his ministry. He said the group should “hold high the banner of multilateralism” and firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism. “Brics members need to take the lead in speaking up for justice and delivering fair outcomes, and elevate their standing and role in international affairs,” Wang said.

 

Wang met Doval on Monday evening, where he said that it is “imperative” for India and China to respect each other’s “core interests” and take concrete actions to implement the “important consensus” reached by the leaders of both countries, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. Wang and Doval are the Special Representatives of the India-China border issue.

 

As the two economies with the largest populations, China and India should not only view bilateral relations from a long-term perspective, but also promote cooperation between the two countries from a global perspective, Wang said. It is imperative to respect each other's core interests, properly handle sensitive issues, and place the China-India border issue in an appropriate position, so that it doesn't affect the overall situation of bilateral relations, he said.

 

Wang said bilateral ties are “gradually emerging from a low point and returning to a track of recovery and improvement,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry. The Chinese foreign minister stressed the need to advance the restoration of dialogue mechanisms and promote exchanges in various fields, such as trade, finance, law enforcement and media, Xinhua reported, quoting the official press release.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told media in Beijing on Tuesday that the China-India border area is generally stable and the two sides maintain open communication channels on border-related issues. In New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal on Monday said that the Doval-Wang discussions were “constructive and forward-looking”. “NSA Doval underlined that stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations contribute to building trust and better understanding between the two sides,” he said. Jaiswal added that the two sides “noted progress towards gradual normalisation.”

 

In a repeat of the meeting of the Brics foreign ministers, held in New Delhi on May 14, the Brics NSA’s meeting also witnessed a heated exchange between the senior security official representing Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It was a repeat. The Brics, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, with Indonesia joining in 2025.  

 

Later in the day, the NSAs and senior security officials of Brics countries called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on X, the PM said that BRICS has a vital role in deepening security cooperation and addressing shared challenges in a changing world, from terrorism and cybersecurity to emerging technologies.

 

In his address, Doval said: “We are meeting at a very tumultuous time. The world is facing geopolitical uncertainties, economic strains, and disruptive technology.” "Not only that the threats are compounding, but the instruments and institutional mechanisms are increasingly finding themselves to be inadequate to resolve or mitigate these conflicts," he said. "Multilateralism is on the decline," he said, adding that Brics has a major role to play in addressing various challenges.

 

Iran’s Nezamipour displayed a poster of children killed in a strike on a school in the Iranian city of Minab, “on the first day of the aggression by the US”, and said part of the attacks against his country were launched from bases in the UAE. "The entire world witnessed that the US and the Zionist regime were the initiators of the aggression and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Part of these attacks were launched from bases located on the territory of the United Arab Emirates," he said.

 

"Nevertheless, instead of condemning these hostile actions, the UAE directly participated in the aggression and allowed its territory to be used as a platform for attacks against Iran's civilian infrastructure, schools and hospitals," he said.

 

(with inputs from Agencies)