New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday (March 15) said that the West Asia conflict has “impacted forging a consensus” for a common BRICS position because some members were “directly involved”, but added that India will continue to engage with the members.“Some members of the BRICS are directly involved in the current situation in the West Asia region, which has impacted forging a consensus on a common BRICS position on the ongoing conflict. As Chair of BRICS, India has been facilitating discussions among members through [the] Sherpa channel,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing.The BRICS has 11 core members, including the founding five – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – and additional members – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.While Iran is directly involved in the US-Israeli war in West Asia, the UAE has also been indirectly involved due to Iran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases in Gulf countries.The last virtual BRICS Sherpa meeting was held on March 12. However, due to differing strategic interests, the members could not reach a common ground. Under India’s BRICS chairmanship, the bloc has not issued any joint statement on the current conflict. In a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 12, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian had said that if India was a “friend of Iran”, then BRICS should play a “strong” and “constructive” role in addressing the escalating conflict.This is in contrast to last year when BRICS, under the Brazilian chairmanship, issued two statements on the June 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran. The first joint statement issued on June 25 during the 12-day war, expressed “grave concern over the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since June 13, 2025, which constitute a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.” India was a signatory to the statement.India is expected to host the BRICS summit later this year. The MEA also said that the Indian leadership has been engaging with leaders of BRICS members in the region. “India will continue to engage,” Jaiswal said.On Friday, Union external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had told a media briefing that India was talking to all BRICS members on the situation in West Asia. So far, India has condemned Iran’s strikes on Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the UAE, but hasn’t formally criticised the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The other founding members of BRICS have all individually condemned the US-Israeli strikes.