Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 13 : Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday praised Iran’s leadership while commenting on the BRICS Summit, describing the Iranian President as a “brave man like a lion” and highlighting Iran’s resistance in the face of opposition from powerful countries.
“The President of Iran has come here to the Summit. He is a brave man like a lion,” Raut said while speaking about the BRICS Summit.
Raut said Iran had faced opposition from countries including the United States and Israel but had continued to fight its own battle.
“The whole world went against Iran. America and Israel tried everything to finish Iran, but couldn’t. They fought their own battle,” he said.
Raut’s remarks came in the context of the BRICS Summit and the participation of Iran in the grouping’s deliberations.
Earlier on Saturday, Raut said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clearly tell the Chinese leadership to withdraw from areas in Ladakh and Galwan where it has allegedly intruded and return India's land.
Addressing a press conference, Raut said India has held 25 rounds of discussions with China over the last two years, but questioned what improvement these engagements have brought to bilateral relations.
"PM Modi ought to clearly tell the President of China visiting India to first withdraw from the areas in Ladakh and Galwan where they have intruded, and return our land to us. There have been 25 rounds of discussions with China so far in two years - yet what improvement has there been in relations? On the other hand, the visit of the Iranian President is highly significant. I observed that the Iranian President arrived in Delhi with the bearing of a lion...Iran has demonstrated its strength, spirit, and self-respect in the face of Israel and America...the others are merely traders - China is a trader, and America is a trader too," Raut said.
Meanwhile, the BRICS countries on Saturday adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026 at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, backing the aspirations of India and Brazil to play a greater role in the United Nations, including its Security Council, while strongly condemning the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam and calling for zero tolerance towards terrorism.
The declaration, adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, said China and Russia, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, reiterated their support for the aspirations of Brazil and India to play a greater role in the UN, including its Security Council.
The BRICS leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to reforming the UN Security Council to make it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, with greater representation for developing countries.
On terrorism, the grouping condemned “in the strongest terms” the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, in which 26 people were killed and several others injured.
The declaration reaffirmed BRICS’ commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, terrorism financing and safe havens. It also called for zero tolerance for terrorism and rejected double standards in countering the menace.