Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in New Delhi late Wednesday to attend a two-day crucial meeting of foreign ministers of BRICS nations hosted by India which has the current presidency of the bloc. The meetings, scheduled for May 14 and 15, and chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, are likely to cover a wide range of global and regional issues of mutual interest ahead of the annual BRICS summit. Resilience, innovation and reform of multilateral institutions will be among the main agenda. But the visit has been widely talked about because of the plane that Araghchi used for the trip.
Onboard the aircraft with the Iranian Foreign Minister was a plane named ‘Minab168’ which is a sharp and symbolic reference to the 168 girls who were killed in a missile strike on a school in the city of Minab in the ongoing conflict between Iran and the U.S.-Israel alliance. The name is often invoked by officials within Iran as a stark reminder of the toll of civilians in the war. The choice of the plane underscores the underlying tensions about the conflict that hang over the BRICS talks. The meeting is a test of the internal cohesion of the grouping as India seeks to build a constructive dialogue on global governance amid deep geopolitical divisions on security, energy and regional stability. Iran has been vocal in urging member states to take a more diplomatic stand against the ongoing military campaign, adding another layer of complexity to the diplomatic proceedings in New Delhi.
