'No ordinary grouping': BRICS' top advisors discuss 'non-traditional security challenges'

A meeting of BRICS national security advisors and high representatives on national security was held in the Indian capital New Delhi, with the host India saying the meeting will also discuss some of the "non-traditional security challenges."

The South Asian nation is hosting the two-day BRICS meeting, which is attended by officials from the bloc members, including China.

The meeting of the bloc's national security advisors comes as the US and Iran move to end the war as well as open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed since the war began on Feb. 28.

In his opening remarks, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who described the bloc as "no ordinary grouping," said the bloc needs to be "cognizant of the new security threats and challenges."

"Non-traditional threats have transcended national borders and have developed defeat systems against conventional responses," he said, adding that the bloc "is growing stronger with each passing day."

"We have got a very special role to play in this world, which appears to be in turmoil, a world which appears to be changing, a world in which the instruments of conflict resolution are probably getting blunted," Doval said.

"What role we as a group can play is a matter that is important for us to ponder," he said.

Doval also welcomed the agreement reached between the United States and Iran to end the war. "We have got cautious optimism, and we hope that it will work. It will help energy security," he said.

He said the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is a very "welcome development."

"It will remove supply chain bottlenecks and many of the shortages in the field…and the freedom of navigation that will be available to the countries in the region and beyond will probably also greatly improve our economic prosperity," Doval said.

The bloc aims to create alternative financial mechanisms, curb dollar dependency, and increase Global South representation in international institutions, challenging Western-led governance structures.

India's 2026 BRICS chair is guided by the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."

Together, BRICS countries, which also include Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, represent over 40% of the global population and over 32% of the global GDP.