The international trading system should be protected, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has told BRICS leaders.
"The international trading system is based on the foundational principles of open, fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, inclusive, equitable, and a rules-based approach with Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries" Jaishankar told the group's extraordinary online summit on Monday. "India strongly believes that this should be protected and nurtured."
He also called on BRICS member states to boost trade between their markets, stressing that "sustainable trade" was vital and could only be achieved through a "constructive and cooperative approach."
"The world requires constructive and cooperative approaches to promote trade that is sustainable," Jaishankar argued. "Increasing barriers and complicating transactions will not help."
"Neither would the linking of trade measures to non-trade matters," he added. "BRICS itself can set an example by reviewing trade flows among its member states."
While India has called Washington's measures "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable", US President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have claimed India is fuelling the Ukraine conflict by purchasing Russian oil.