BRICS Consensus on West Asia Uncertain as Iran, UAE Spar at Meeting  

At the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of direct involvement in the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the Wire reported. The blunt talk exposed the contradictions within the expanded bloc on reaching a consensus over the West Asia conflict. 

“The West's false sense of superiority and immunity must be shattered by all of us," Araghchi said. Telegraph reported Iran called on BRICS to condemn the violations of international law by the United States and Israel, He added that the battle Iran has fought is "in defence of all of us – of the new world that we are building together." BRICS nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar said: "Ongoing conflicts, economic uncertainties and challenges in trade, technology and climate are shaping the global landscape.” He said the BRICS discussion should consider “practical ways to strengthen our cooperation.” Many countries continue to face challenges on energy, food, fertiliser and health security, as also access to finance, he said.

Referring to US sanctions on Iran, Jaishankar said, “We must also address the increasing resort to unilateral coercive measures and sanctions inconsistent with international law and the UN Charter.” 

Indian Express reported that India tried to diplomatically balance Iran and UAE, flagging energy disruptions as well as “unilateral coercive measures and sanctions”. India, the host of the meeting, is battling severe energy supply disruptions caused by the ongoing war.

‘It’s not like a lockdown…’, Minister Dismisses Fears After PM Modi Appeals to Cut Oil Use

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s austerity appeal to citizens urging them to use less cooking oil, petrol, and diesel and work from home to counter US-Iran war induced shortages triggered rumours of a lockdown.    

India’s oil-and-gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri  dismissed concerns of any imminent lockdown-like restrictions, reported the ET.

Meanwhile, the RBI governor warned that fuel prices may rise if the war imposed on Iran continues, reported TOI.  As crude oil prices stayed elevated, the rupee weakened and slipped to 95 mark against the dollar. 

Oil and fertiliser Price Shock: India Races to Shield Economy 

Energy prices spiked by the war on Iran has clouded India's macroeconomic outlook, spurring crisis-era measures from the government, Reuters reported. 

“The most severe disruption of global energy” has made imports more expensive. India imports about 90% of its oil needs and ⁠about 50% of its gas requirements.

Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said managing the current account credibly, financing it, and preventing further currency depreciation are big imperatives.

Foreign investors have pulled out more than $20 billion from Indian equities since the war began, the report said.

The rupee has already fallen more than 5% since the Iran war broke ‌out to hit ⁠a record low this week, and is the worst-performing Asian currency so far in 2026 This has made India to appeal to citizens to cut down on consumption that uses up foreign exchange.

India’s retail inflation rose to 3.48% in April, as food prices have risen and are expected to rise higher with a “fertiliser price shock” and “less-than-normal rainfall due to El Niño conditions”,  Reuters reported. 

India’s Heat Exposes a Fragile Grid as Energy Crunch Deepens 

As temperatures in India “surged beyond 40°C” in April to “punishing levels”, the “demand for round-the-clock power is testing the ability of India’s electricity system to provide uninterrupted supply” and “triggering blackouts as infrastructure and generation struggle to cope,” reported Bloomberg. 

The news outlet said extreme nocturnal heat forces around-the-clock cooling, straining infrastructure and causing localized blackouts. Over 21 gigawatts of coal and nuclear capacity are currently under maintenance or forced shutdowns, exacerbating the crisis, the report said. 

India's Delivery Economy Runs On Worker Heat Stress, Gig Workers Lobby Seeks “Enforceable Protection”

India's 7.7 million gig workers have no shade, no drinking water, and no choice but to deliver through the afternoon heat, reported India Spend. The extreme heat has had a   “devastating effect” on the country’s gig workers “at the mercy of algorithms”, with little or no access to shade, water or toilets.The Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers has written to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, seeking enforceable protections. 

The association demanded paid cooling breaks during severe heat alerts, access to drinking water and shelters, and in-app emergency systems for heat distress, arguing that voluntary measures by platforms are not enough. The ministry itself has issued a nationwide advisory, urging states and Union Territories to direct employers, especially those working in outdoor and labour-intensive sectors, to implement immediate heat-safety measures. A few delivery workers who Business Standard spoke to said there have been modest improvements on the ground. A delivery partner said that at least two qcom platforms have increased per-order payouts during peak afternoon hours, 

Bengal Express-way to Impact Protected Forest Land, Elephant Corridor 

The Union environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) has cleared a 235-km greenfield expressway connecting Varanasi to Kolkata under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-II programme, with the project requiring the diversion of over 103 hectares of reserved and protected forest land in West Bengal — territory the committee noted falls partially within a tiger landscape, HT reported.