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Informist, Friday, May 23, 2025

NEW DELHI – At the 15th BRICS Trade Ministers' meeting, India opposed export controls among BRICS members and pitched for mutual support within the bloc comprising 11 countries, the commerce ministry said in a release Friday. The BRICS declaration, signed by the member countries at the end of the meeting held under Brazil's presidency on Wednesday, emphasised that climate-related trade measures should not serve as tools of "unjustifiable discrimination or disguised trade restrictions," the ministry said. 

Reaffirming India's commitment to a fair, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based multilateral trading system, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal – who did not attend the meeting in person -  told BRICS nations to promote a decentralised global trade architecture that addresses the developmental needs of the global south, the ministry said. The BRICS is a group formed by 11 countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran. It serves as a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries from the global south. 

Yashvir Singh, economic Adviser in the commerce ministry, represented India at the meeting. He emphasised the need to eliminate restrictive trade measures that disrupt critical supply chains. "India urged developed nations to ensure the concessional transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs), supported by adequate financial resources," the release said.

The member nations signed a joint declaration after the meeting that particularly highlighted non-tariff barriers under the garb of climate-related trade measures. 

This is not the first time that the bloc is flagging unilateral measures that question the sanctity of free trade. In October, after ministerial plenary session of 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, the leaders of the bloc had raised concerns over illegal sanctions imposed by the US and European countries on several nations, including Russia in the backdrop of the war with Ukraine. 

India has had a strong view against the European Union's proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM, which entails tax collection from those exporting to the EU in case the shipment carries higher than permissible amount of carbon in them. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that EU's carbon tax is a "repeat of colonialism", in which the country merely aims to deplete the resources of other economies to improve its own industries. 

On World Trade Organisation-related reforms, the commerce ministry said that India highlighted the need for resolving long-standing developmental issues, particularly calling for a permanent solution to public stockholding for food security. India, which is slated to assume BRICS presidency in 2026, also reiterated its commitment to global cooperation in digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity under forums such as the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence and the Group of 20, or G20.   End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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