India avoided mentioning tariffs at a BRICS leaders virtual summit called by Brazil on Monday amidst steep US levies on imports distorting global economic order.
Significantly, while heads of states of major countries from the ten-member bloc, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, attended the important meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was represented by Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.
India cautioned that increasing barriers will not help promote world trade and suggested that the bloc could set an example by reviewing trade flows among member states
“Trade patterns and market access are today prominent issues in the global economic discourse…The BRICS itself can set an example by reviewing trade flows among its member States,” Jaishankar said.
New Delhi’s soft-pedalling of the US’ unilateral tariffs, as high as 50 per cent on India and Brazil, follows US President Donald Trump’s recent outburst against India getting seemingly close to China at the SCO Summit. Trump then softened his stance and said that India and the US had a special relationship and Modi would always be his friend.
Xi lashes out
The Chinese President, however, openly criticised the US and its tariff wars, without naming it directly but referring to it as “some country”. He warned that hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism were getting more and more rampant.
“Trade wars and tariff wars waged by some country severely disrupt the world economy and undermine international trade rules. At this critical juncture, BRICS countries, standing at the forefront of the Global South, should act on the BRICS Spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system…,” Jinping said.
The BRICS nations, must advance cooperation and build a community with a shared future for humanity, he said.
Last month, in an interview to a local news agency, the Brazilian President had said that he would try to bring together BRICS nations against Trump’s rising tariffs. Lula criticised Trump’s push for unilateral deals over multilateral cooperation, and cautioned that smaller economies would not have the negotiating prowess to work out such deals on their own.
India, however, stayed away from mentioning tariffs at the virtual summit, stressing instead on the importance of the need for a rule-based approach and special and differential treatment for developing countries.
“The international trading system is based on the foundational principles of open, fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, inclusive, equitable and a rules-based approach with Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries. India strongly believes that this should be protected and nurtured,” he said.
Published on September 8, 2025