Mumbai, September 28, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Celebrity chef and actor Ranveer Brar has weighed in on the controversy over the all-vegetarian menu served at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, saying the choice was intended to avoid potential food-related sensitivities and showcase India’s vegetarian cuisine to the world.
Speaking to IANS in Mumbai’s Andheri West during promotions for his upcoming streaming show Yes Chef, Brar said a vegetarian menu could help avoid controversy among international delegates from countries with different dietary practices.
“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 said.
The all-vegetarian menu at the summit drew criticism from some sections of society, who argued that a more diverse selection of food could have been offered.
Brar said the decision should also be viewed as an opportunity to highlight India’s vegetarian culinary traditions, rather than as a permanent shift towards serving only vegetarian food at international events.
“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.
He added that vegetarian and vegan food had become topics of international interest and that the summit provided an opportunity to celebrate India’s 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,” Brar said.
The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. Leaders from all 11 BRICS member countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia—participated in the summit.
Representatives from 10 partner countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Nigeria, Uganda, Cuba, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, also attended the gathering. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and heads of institutions, including the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, were also present.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, a 140-point document addressing areas such as global governance, peace and security, trade, finance, technology, health and climate.
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