Narendra Modi Has Lost His Moral Right To Lead 2026 BRICS Presidency

By Nitya Chakraborty

India’s isolation from Global South on the issue of Trump’s invasion of Venezuela is now complete. Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims himself as the leader of Global South. Both at the SCO summit and BRICS meeting last year, Modi was active in articulating the aspirations and the programmes of the developing and poor nations.

The US imposition of double tariff on India in 2025 had created a situation of rift between Trump and Modi. But all those are gone now as the Indian Prime Minister is desperate to keep the U.S. President in good humour for clinching the trade deal with the USA at the earliest. In order to appease Trump, India has remained silent on the U.S. invasion of Venezuela while the other BRICS members, as also the vast majority of Global South have unequivocally come out against the naked imperialism of the U.S. President. Even the allies of U.S. including Britain and France have questioned the manner of Trump’s action but the so called leader of the Global South still remains silent.

India is hosting the next BRICS Summit in September this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the host. PM has already taken over the Presidency of BRICS on January 1. About 100 meetings are planned to be held during the year focusing on cooperation and collaboration between the Global South and advancing the common causes in the international forum.

Right now, out of the original five members, excepting India, four others China, Russia, South Africa and Brazil have come out openly against the U.S. aggression. Venezuela is a Latin American nation and belongs to Global South. It is the duty of the BRICS to defend the Global South country. All other members have come out defending the sovereignty of Venezuela excepting India which will be hosting the BRICS summit in 2026.

Prime Minister as the current President of BRICS has to lead the Global South in defending its member against the invasion by a super power. But the BRICS President has not said anything on U.S. role. What impression it is giving to the Global South and other BRICS members? Narendra Modi has once again sullied the image of India which rose a bit after his actions at the SCO and BRICS summits in 2025. This degradation of Indian diplomacy will have its adverse impact at the coming 18th BRICS Summit.

What is the situation worldwide on this issue of U.S. invasion of Venezuela? The US has faced widespread condemnation for a “crime of aggression” in Venezuela at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Eritrea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Spain were among countries that on Monday denounced Donald Trump’s decision to launch deadly strikes on Venezuela and kidnap its leader, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to stand trial in the US.

“The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” Sérgio França Danese, the Brazilian ambassador to the UN, told the meeting. “These acts constitute a very serious affront to the sovereignty of Venezuela and set an extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

Trump’s UN ambassador, Mike Waltz, defended the attack as a legitimate “law enforcement” action to execute long-standing criminal indictments against an “illegitimate” leader, not an act of war.

The meeting in New York was convened just hours before Maduro was due to appear before a federal judge in Manhattan on charges including “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation and weapons trafficking – allegations he has long denied.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned that the capture of Maduro risked intensifying instability in Venezuela and across the region. He questioned whether the operation respected the rules of international law.

“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.

He urged Venezuelan actors to engage in “inclusive and democratic dialogue” and offered UN support for a peaceful way forward.

Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members, were less restrained and called on the US to immediately release Maduro and Flores. Vasily Nebenzya, Moscow’s ambassador, described the intervention as “a turn back to the era of lawlessness” and urged the 15-member council to reject the methods of US military foreign policy.

Nebenzya, whose country is currently under US sanctions following its illegal invasion of Ukraine, added: “We cannot allow the United States to proclaim itself as some kind of a supreme judge, which alone bears the right to invade any country, to label culprits, to hand down and to enforce punishments irrespective of notions of international law, sovereignty and non-intervention.”

China’s representative, Fu Cong, echoed the charge, saying the US had “wantonly trampled upon Venezuela’s sovereignty” and violated the principle of sovereign equality. “No country can act as the world’s police.”

China demanded that the US “change its course, cease its bullying and coercive practices”, and “return to the path of political solutions through dialogue and negotiations”.

The Cuban ambassador, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, told the meeting: “The US military attack against Venezuela has no justification whatsoever… This is an imperialist and fascist aggression with objectives of domination.”

The security council meeting also heard from Venezuela’s ambassador Samuel Moncada, who described the US action as an “illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification” that included “the kidnapping of the constitutional president of the republic, Nicolás Maduro Moros and the first lady Cilia Flores.”

The Security Council meeting could not come out with any resolution condemning the U.S. invasion as the veto power, but the mood was clear , all the members had reservations on the US action. It was the violation of UN charter and all international laws. BRICS members were more aggressive in their condemnation of US action but the European members and US allies also conveyed their unhappiness at the nature of intervention and kidnapping. The US action involved a far bigger moral issue for the international community.

Thus it is pathetic to see India tragically failing that moral compass under the leadership of present Prime Minister. The great nation of Buddha and Gandhi is surrendering to a new emperor of 21st century Donald Trump by doing away with all the great legacy which the Indian foreign policy carried through the decades till 2014. India, the cradle of an ancient civilization inculcating high principles of democracy and governance, looks belittled in the eyes of the Global South. The loss is irreparable unless the Prime minister makes immediate amends. (IPA Service)

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