Jakarta. Indonesia has reminded BRICS members of the seismic financial costs of wars, as the group, which included the rivaling Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), gathered in India.

BRICS foreign ministers kicked off their two-day talks in India’s capital, New Delhi, on Thursday. The Iran war -- which had dragged the UAE -- cast a shadow over the meeting, joined by Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono.

According to a transcript shared by his ministry, Sugiono had raised concerns over the “developments in the Middle East”.

“The cost of war is ultimately the cost of lost opportunity. Trillions of dollars have been spent on conflicts and destruction, while reconstruction in affected regions adds hundreds of billions more. And this situation is not inevitable,” Sugiono told his BRICS counterparts.

“It is the predictable result of a choice that favors force over diplomacy. The choice between war and development is therefore not only a moral imperative. It is a strategic one.”

He went on to say how the Middle East situation shows that “geopolitical ambitions and rivalries, when left unchecked, lead only to destruction”. 

“We must not allow ourselves to be drawn by the currents of rivalries and confrontation. … Indonesia stands ready, together with fellow BRICS members, to help shape a world that is more peaceful, just, and more secure for all,” Sugiono said.

Amid Jakarta’s calls for peace, reports revealed that the meeting had seen clashes between Iran and the UAE.  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had called on members to condemn the US-Israeli attacks. Arragchi accused Abu Dhabi of being “directly involved in the aggression”, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar is also attending the New Delhi talks.

The Iran war started with a US-Israeli joint operation on Tehran in late February, which killed the country’s leadership. Iran responded by firing at US bases and other targets in Gulf nations, including the UAE. 

The fighting has added strain to global energy supplies as Iran also retaliated by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway responsible for a quarter of global seaborne oil trade. Earlier this month, the UAE blamed Iran’s barrage of missiles for setting an Emirati oil refinery ablaze. The global crude benchmark Brent hovered above $106 per barrel on Friday as the US-Iran ceasefire talks remained at a deadlock.

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