NEW DELHI — At a virtual BRICS leaders’ summit on Monday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke in lieu of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He gave a clear message about the problems facing global trade and investment, concentrating on India’s role in the group. The minister said he was worried about rising protectionism and pointed out that India has big trade imbalances with its BRICS allies. He called for “quick solutions.”
Jaishankar added, “Trade patterns and market access are important topics in the global economic conversation right now.” “The world needs positive and cooperative ways to encourage trade that lasts.”
He went on to say, “Raising barriers and making transactions more difficult will not help,” which was an obvious reference to recent global trends. Linking trade metrics to things that aren’t trade would also not work.
Jaishankar’s words had a big effect since they made the BRICS group look at itself. He remarked, “The BRICS itself can set an example by looking at how trade flows between its member states.” “We have been pushing for quick solutions to some of our biggest problems with BRICS partners when it comes to India.” We hope that this realization will be one of the things people remember from today’s meeting. This assertion is especially important because India’s biggest trade imbalance is with China, another BRICS member, and it will be $99.21 billion in the fiscal year 2024–25.
The minister spoke after Chinese President Xi Jinping, who seemed to be talking to the US when he said that a “certain country” wanted to start a “trade war” with the world economy. President Xi told the BRICS countries to “resist all forms of protectionism” and work together to boost trade and economic cooperation.
Jaishankar talked more on how important it is to have a stable and predictable trading climate, especially for the Global South. He underlined the need to have “more resilient, reliable, redundant, and shorter supply chains” and called for the “democratization of manufacturing and production” in diverse parts of the world to make regions more self-sufficient and ease worries during times of uncertainty.
There is a big trade battle going on between India and the United States, which makes the minister’s comments even more important. The U.S. has recently imposed a 25% “reciprocal” tax on commodities from India, as well as a 25% penalty tariff for India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil. This raises the total duty on a number of Indian items to 50%, which is one of the highest rates the U.S. has ever charged its trade partners.
Jaishankar ended by saying that India will always support an international trading system based on openness, fairness, transparency, and non-discrimination. He stressed that this system should be protected and grown.