India calls for freer trade, easier movement of skilled workers within Brics

India on Friday called on Brics members to open their markets further to each other’s products, including raw materials and critical minerals, and skilled professionals, while pushing for freer intra-bloc trade and greater use of local currencies for trade settlement.

Addressing the opening session of the Brics Business Forum in the national capital, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said supply chains will be resilient only when they run both ways, without non-tariff measures imposing higher costs or access issues blocking opportunities.

The 11-member grouping accounts for 40% of the world’s gross domestic product and almost a quarter of global exports, Goyal said.

Quick answers to key questions

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QUESTIONS

India is urging BRICS members to open their markets further to each other’s products, improve skilled worker mobility, and promote trade in local currencies to facilitate intra-bloc trade.

India aims to reduce dependence on major currencies like the US Dollar, promote financial stability, and enhance trade efficiency by facilitating transactions in local currencies among BRICS nations.

India suggests enhancing logistics, simplifying regulatory procedures, and ensuring dependable market practices to create resilient supply chains that benefit all member states.

India faces a significant trade deficit with BRICS nations, with imports surpassing exports heavily, particularly due to high imports from China, highlighting the need for better market access within the bloc.

Yes, fostering collaboration on technology access and developing digital infrastructure is crucial for enhancing economic growth, productivity, and ensuring mutual trust among BRICS nations.

In 2025, the bloc accounted for 21.6% of world exports and 17.3% of imports, while intra-bloc trade represented only 4-5% of world trade, according to an estimate by research firm Global Trade Research Initiative. Brics accounts for 42% of India’s imports but only 22% of its exports, primarily due to the country’s large trade deficit with China, it said.

India is hosting the Brics Business Forum and the leaders' summit from 11–13 September in the national capital. Brics, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Open tech access

Speaking at the same event, external affairs minister S Jaishankar underscored the need to separate access to technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), from geopolitics.

“Technology has always been inseparable from economics and geopolitics. Digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech, and advanced manufacturing--all offer major opportunities. But they also raise questions: questions of access, standards, security, and trust,” he said.

Jaishankar also said higher economic activity and greater economic security mean greater self-reliance among Brics members.

“The objective is to strengthen our ability to absorb shocks while remaining connected and competitive,” Jaishankar said. “That calls for genuine market practices, dependable logistics, predictable business environment, diversified commercial relationships, and transparent trade and investment.”

He called on businesses in the grouping to look beyond commercial opportunities to the conditions that enable them.

Trade in local currencies

Goyal also urged Brics members to build on India’s digital public infrastructure, particularly the unified payment interface (UPI), which he said accounts for over 250 billion transactions a year and more than half of transactions by volume globally.

“Today, it (UPI) is also accepted in 11 countries, and I would urge the Brics member-countries and partner countries to link our payment systems, trade in each other's local currencies, make digital trade global, and build together for the future emerging economies,” Goyal said.

India has made progress in manufactured products, including engineering goods, electronics and pharmaceuticals, as well as farm products and various services, he said, pushing for greater market access within the Brics bloc.

Trade among partners should be “deep, resilient, with diversified supply chains, and ensuring that at no point of time, trade becomes an impediment to growth and the well-being of the people of each member state”, Goyal said.

He also urged member nations to simplify regulatory procedures and facilitate faster clearance of consignments to bolster trade.

“Let us open our services markets to each other in a real sense. Let professionals move easily across borders and make it easier to recognize each other's professional qualifications,” he said.

Business cooperation

Jaishankar called for energy systems capable of coping with disruption and transition pathways suited to different national circumstances. He said the forum’s most useful contribution would be to bring a clear business perspective to the next phase of Brics cooperation.

“We are building tomorrow, today--from green energy to high-speed metro networks,” he said.

The summit comes as the global political and economic order faces churn, with volatility, uncertainty and complexity becoming its defining features, Jaishankar said.

“We are witnessing the economic consequences of geopolitical conflicts, of pandemics, and of climate-related disruptions,” he said. At the same time, technological advances are opening new possibilities for growth, productivity, and development.

“The result is an economic landscape where both risks and opportunities are becoming more widely distributed, and where the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond is acquiring greater importance. Resilience, therefore, has become the Forum's agenda, supply chain connectivity and trade facilitation have emerged as crucial,” he said.

Russia for resilient supply chains

Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s minister for economic development, affirmed Russia’s support for “concrete steps to foster resilient supply chains, to accelerate green and digital transition” and called on foreign businesses to set up units in his country.

He also said Russia is in active negotiations with India and several other countries for trade deals. Russia signed a free trade agreement with Iran last year, while a pact with the United Arab Emirates is expected to take effect in October and another agreement with Indonesia early next year, Reshetnikov said.

“Today, we are the economy of the opportunities. The GDP of Russia increased by 10% in real terms over the last three years,” Reshetnikov said. “Despite external pressure, our economy remains market-oriented. Our focus today is on structural transformation.”

The dollar and euro together accounted for 85% of settlements for Russian exports three years ago, but now account for 11%, he said. “An alternative international financial system became our key leverage,” he said.