Ranveer Brar Defends All-Vegetarian BRICS Menu: ‘We Have to Put a United Front’

Ranveer Brar spoke in Mumbai's Andheri West while promoting his upcoming streaming show *Yess Chef*. The vegetarian menu at the summit had drawn criticism from sections of society who felt the spread could have offered greater variety.

Explaining his perspective, Brar said food choices at international gatherings can sometimes be shaped by the desire to avoid potential controversy, particularly when participating countries have different dietary practices.

“We make that thing a mandate. Sometimes, you want to stay away from the global controversy. Some countries eat beef, some countries eat pork, so sometimes you want to stay away from it and you want to serve food that stays away from controversy. Vegetarian food stays away from controversy, internationally,” he told.

The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

The summit brought together leaders from all 11 BRICS member countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Representatives from 10 partner countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Nigeria, Uganda, Cuba, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, also participated.

Brar argued that the decision to serve vegetarian food should not necessarily be interpreted as a permanent shift towards an exclusively vegetarian approach. He cited his experience with *MasterChef* to illustrate how a focus on vegetarian cuisine can instead be used to showcase India's culinary traditions.

“Another thing, it is not that we will always serve vegetarian food. In ‘MasterChef’ there was a vegetarian season last year. People were like, ‘MasterChef has turned vegetarian’. But, that was not the case. It was only that we wanted to highlight the vegetarian food of our country,” he said.

According to Brar, the growing international conversation around vegetarianism and veganism also offered an opportunity to showcase India's plant-based culinary heritage.

“The world is talking about vegetarianism, veganism, so this time, we celebrated our vegetarianism and we should see it that way. We have to put a united front in front of the whole world,” he added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and representatives of institutions including the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank also participated in the summit.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, a 140-point document covering areas including global governance, peace and security, trade, finance, technology, health and climate.