India on Monday urged members of the BRICS bloc to address their trade imbalances with New Delhi, as they met against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have unnerved Washington’s friends and foes alike.
Speaking at the virtual summit, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the country’s “biggest trade deficits are with BRICS partners.” The bloc, which has Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as key members, has been charged by Trump of pursuing “anti-American policies.”
Jaishankar was representing India in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China last week was seen as signaling warming ties with Beijing at a time when relations with the U.S. have been under strain.
India’s tone at the BRICS meeting contrasted with that of host Brazil that charged the U.S. of “blackmail.” Brazil along with India is among the nations hardest-hit by Trump’s tariffs, with levies as steep as 50%.
China too took veiled swipes at Washington’s trade policies as President Xi Jinping warned against “Hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism.”
