{"id":887082,"date":"2026-01-22T20:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/new-brics-year-india-takes-charge-as-world-looks-to-ease-looming-trade-tensions\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:26:20","slug":"new-brics-year-india-takes-charge-as-world-looks-to-ease-looming-trade-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/new-brics-year-india-takes-charge-as-world-looks-to-ease-looming-trade-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brics year: India takes charge as world looks to ease looming trade tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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India on Thursday formally took over the rotating presidency of the Brics grouping for 2026, with New Delhi expected to push for more inclusive development and a stronger role for the Global South in international economic governance, at a time when US President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff policies have disrupted global trade.<\/p>\n

Brics was originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but has expanded over the past two years to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The Brics website lists Saudi Arabia as the bloc\u2019s 11th member, though some reports say Riyadh has yet to formally join.<\/p>\n

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According to World Bank data, the expanded grouping accounts for about 49% of the world\u2019s population, roughly 29% of global gross domestic product and 23% of international trade.<\/p>\n

Trump imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods in August, including a 25% penalty linked to India\u2019s purchases of Russian oil. The rate is the highest applied to any US trading partner and matched duties imposed on Brazil, which held the Brics presidency in 2025. Washington later lifted additional levies on several Brazilian food exports, including coffee and beef, in November.<\/p>\n

In February, Trump warned Brics countries against pursuing a common currency, declaring the bloc \u201cdead\u201d and threatening 100% tariffs if members sought to challenge the dominance of the US dollar.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing Trump tariffs, India will likely resist confrontational de-dollarization, and instead promote local currency settlements to maintain strategic autonomy during its Brics presidency,\u201d Nikkei Asia<\/em> quoted Prerna Gandhi, an associate fellow at India\u2019s Vivekananda International Foundation think tank, as saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia will also push for reforms in multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund while encouraging dialogue that reduces fragmentation and promotes stability in global supply chains,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Raj Kumar Sharma, a senior research fellow at New Delhi-based think tank NatStrat, told Nikkei Asia<\/em> that India will use its Brics presidency to \u201cdefend and strengthen multilateralism against any unilateral impulses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is need to strengthen multilateral trading systems during current times when protectionism and tariffs are increasing. At the same time, India will also support reform of global governance institutions like the United Nations Security Council, the World Bank and the IMF,\u201d he said, adding that New Delhi recognises structural inequalities in global trade rules and may advocate special and differential treatment for developing countries in the Global South.<\/p>\n

On the Global South agenda, Sharma said India will continue the approach it adopted during its G20 presidency in 2023, giving \u201cprimacy to human welfare, inclusive development and broad public concerns affecting various countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said issues such as food and fuel shortages, debt restructuring and climate finance \u201cwill be central to India\u2019s 2026 Brics presidency, which could face some challenge from America\u2019s G20 presidency in which issues of the Global South may not be adequately highlighted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia would like to make sure that the voice of the Global South is not lost amidst ongoing great-power rivalry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Separately, Pakistan, India\u2019s rival neighbour and an economy under strain, is seeking to join the Brics-backed New Development Bank to diversify its borrowing options.<\/p>\n

Islamabad applied for Brics membership in 2023, looking to Russia and China for support.<\/p>\n

Sharma said \u201cIndia is likely to push for clearly defined criteria for Brics membership so that the bloc does not lose its significance due to [any] unplanned expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gandhi said India supports expansion in principle but insists it \u201cshould strengthen, not dilute, Brics\u2019 effectiveness\u201d as a platform for development cooperation and global governance reform.<\/p>\n

She said India has called for clear and transparent benchmarks \u2014 including economic size, development profile, institutional capacity and commitment to multilateralism \u2014 rather than politically driven or ad hoc admissions, and stressed that decisions must be taken by full consensus.<\/p>\n

She added that in 2025, Brics focused on consolidating its existing membership rather than pursuing further expansion.<\/p>\n

With inputs from agencies<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FP News Desk
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India on Thursday formally took over the rotating presidency of the Brics grouping for 2026, with New Delhi expected to push for more inclusive development and a stronger role for the Global South in international economic governance, at a time when US President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff policies have disrupted global trade. Brics was originally formed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":887083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107574,126],"tags":[126977,6053],"class_list":{"0":"post-887082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brics","8":"category-india","9":"tag-brics","10":"tag-india"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}