The UAE is using its Brics membership to strengthen trade, economic and people-to-people links between East and West, a senior UAE official has said ahead of the bloc’s summit in New Delhi.
Omran Sharaf, UAE Assistant Foreign Minister for Advanced Science and Technology Affairs and the country’s Brics "sherpa" – a senior official who lays the groundwork for meetings – said the approach reflects the UAE’s position as a regional and global hub and its long-standing policy of building strategic relationships with countries around the world.
“Where we are within the region, we are a hub. We need to work with the East and the West,” Mr Sharaf told The National in an interview in New Delhi. “We connect the North and the South. That connectivity when it comes to trade, economic and commercial activities, to people-to-people relationships, is embedded in us.”
Mr Sharaf explained that the UAE’s role in Brics was focused on strengthening those connections among member states and giving the Global South greater access to other parts of the world through the UAE. For the UAE, Brics also provides opportunities for innovation and greater market access, he added.
“With the polarised geopolitical landscape, convergence of views is very important,” said Mr Sharaf. “Being part of a platform like Brics helps us bring these topics and agree among each other, and even helps us in platforms other than Brics, where similar discussions take place but sometimes the discussions are not moving forward.”
Brics – originally an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has expanded since 2024 to include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and Ethiopia. The group says its members account for 49.5 per cent of the world’s population and about 40 per cent of global gross domestic product at purchasing power parity.
Multipolar world
Differences among Brics members reflect the national interests of individual countries and can lead to divergent positions on issues, said Mr Sharaf. He said such differences were a natural feature of a multipolar world.
“Each country works towards its national interest, and views will be different,” said Mr Sharaf. “Countries will always have different priorities given the historical context, the demography, the geography, the geopolitical situation in their regions. All these define national positions.”
All eyes will now be on whether the bloc’s leaders can agree on a joint declaration at the weekend, after foreign ministers failed to reach consensus in May. Asked about the prospect of a declaration, Mr Sharaf said: “Let’s see. Let’s hope for the best.”
The UAE delegation is led by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The UAE joined the New Development Bank, the development lender established by the Brics group of nations, in October 2021 and became a member of the bloc in January 2024, as part of a broader strategy to expand international economic partnerships and strengthen its role in multilateral co-operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian are also in attendance among other leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping is due on Saturday for his first visit to India in seven years.
Deepening India ties
The UAE sees India’s hosting of the Brics summit as significant, Mr Sharaf said, adding that Abu Dhabi had worked closely with its Indian partners to help ensure the meeting’s success.
“India is a very important partner for the UAE, an important trade partner, an important strategic partner,” added Mr Sharaf. “And we work with them in different areas, in different fields.”
He said the relationship was “growing day by day” at the political and economic levels as well as between the two countries’ people.
In January, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed visited New Delhi, where he held high-level talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several agreements were signed. The visit also produced a letter of intent on a strategic defence partnership, which analysts said could pave the way for closer military co-operation while strengthening the UAE’s presence in the Indian Ocean region.
The UAE is India's third-largest trading partner and second-largest export destination, with bilateral trade reaching $101.25 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, and Indian exports to the UAE exceeding $37.35 billion, data from the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi shows. About 4.3 million Indian nationals live in the UAE, making them the country's largest expatriate community. India is the UAE's second-largest trading partner.
Alternative trade routes
Mr Sharaf described the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec) as an important initiative and said the UAE was reprioritising infrastructure projects in response to the conflict in the region.
Following the start of the Iran war in February, with US and Israeli strikes against the country, Iran followed through on its threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, once a conduit for a fifth of global energy supplies. The disruption sent energy prices soaring and sparked a global economic crisis.
Mr Sharaf said the disruption of vital maritime chokepoints has underscored the need for alternative trade routes, with the UAE moving ahead with logistics projects to help protect its economy and keep trade flowing.
“The region is going through difficult times today, and if it’s proven anything, it’s proven the importance of having different routes that support the flow of trade between the East and the West,” he said. “And the UAE is central to that.”
Imec, which is backed by the US and the EU, was unveiled in 2023 and aims to connect South Asia, the Middle East and Europe, with routes bypassing the Bab Al Mandeb strait and Suez Canal. It is also backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as France, Germany and Italy.
For India, Imec means new international data infrastructure, increased exports and efficient access to European markets. For Europe, it is about balancing in the new world order and advancing its commercial relationship with India.
The Gulf, in turn, is looking to grow into its role as the world’s central logistics hub and develop land routes to export goods that would otherwise be subject to the risks or limitations of relying on open access to maritime chokepoints.
“Imec and the different initiatives linked to these logistical efforts and projects are essential for us. We need to continue working towards achieving them and moving them forward,” said Mr Sharaf.
