Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Praises India’s BRICS Leadership

New Delhi – While the lights were still dimming on the BRICS summit in early September, Uruguay’s foreign minister Mario Lubetkin was already busy sketching out a picture of what he called “a real breakthrough” for India. In an interview with IANS, the diplomat said the outcome of the four‑day gathering was “an incredible success,” not just because a declaration was signed, but because it managed to pull together a set of wildly different voices into a single, consensus‑based document.

“There were a lot of questions, and very few answers, as we approached the summit,” Lubetkin told the reporter, his tone a mix of admiration and a little bemusement. “Yet, at the end of it all we walked away with a serious, concrete and consensus‑based final declaration that tackled many sensitive issues.” He went on to point out that, despite the many protagonists in ongoing conflicts, India – as the chair – was able to steer the conversation toward agreement.

For the Uruguayan minister, that was more than diplomatic housekeeping; it was a signal that India is now a “key leader” for the Global South. “We don’t need a lot of lofty words,” he said, “we just need to look at the results and understand what India achieved.”

Lubetkin didn’t stop at the summit itself. He showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noting how the Indian leader engaged with some of the world’s most influential heads of state over the weekend. “You could see, even from the sidelines, how leaders leaned in, listened, and treated him as a real point of reference,” Lubetkin observed, adding that the prime minister’s announcement of consensus “speaks louder than thousands of words.”

The visit to New Delhi was, for the Uruguayan foreign minister, a two‑pronged mission: attend the BRICS summit and push forward the budding bilateral relationship between Uruguay and India, especially under the broader umbrella of Mercosur. Over the four days, Lubetkin sat down with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, among others.

One highlight, according to Lubetkin, was a meeting with Prime Minister Modi and President Yamandú Orsi back in Rio de Janeiro in 2025. “Modi came with a piece of paper outlining his vision for the next ten to fifteen years,” Lubetkin recalled. “It was a long‑term mission, and it left a strong impression.” He hopes that the roadmap sketched then will start to materialise before President Orsi’s planned October 2027 visit to India.

Looking ahead, Lubetkin said the two foreign ministries are now working to translate the high‑level agreements into concrete actions. “We sketched a roadmap for the coming year, covering economic, political and cultural cooperation,” he explained. He highlighted three “highways” for collaboration: bilateral ties ranging from trade to Bollywood‑style cultural exchanges; the next phase of Mercosur‑India negotiations, which also involves Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; and finally, leveraging Uruguay’s chairmanship of both Mercosur and CELAC to deepen India’s engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean.

Later this month, Lubetkin and Minister Jaishankar are set to meet again in New York, with a side‑track meeting of CELAC ministers also on the agenda. “In Uruguay, this is a time for India,” the foreign minister told his European counterparts, emphasizing that India’s growing strength is something the region can’t afford to overlook.