New Delhi has taken over the presidency of the highly influential and economically powerful grouping for 2026<\/p>\n
India has taken over the presidency of BRICS amid sweeping interventions by the Donald Trump administration that have major geopolitical implications spread across the globe.
\nOn December 12, Brazil formally transferred the group\u2019s presidency to India at the BRICS sherpas\u2019 meeting in Brasilia. Brasil\u2019s sherpa, Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio, symbolically handed over the gavel of the BRICS presidency to Indian counterpart, Ambassador Sudhakar Dalela, noting that the object represents both sustainability and the deep roots of cooperation that unite the countries of the group.
\nDalela\u00a0highlighted that the grouping\u2019s priorities during the Indian presidency will remain guided by the fundamental principles of continuity, consolidation, and consensus, \u201cwhile remaining responsive to emerging global developments and the evolving priorities of the Global South.\u201d
\nIndia\u2019s accession comes at a time when the BRICS grouping hopes to expand its footprint. The 2026 presidency will be keenly watched, as US President Donald Trump has made known his aversion to BRICS in no uncertain terms. \u00a0
\nAs New Delhi takes over the bloc\u2019s presidency, it is still negotiating a trade deal with Washington. The talks have been thorny since Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods \u2013 half of it as a punitive levy for India\u2019s oil purchases from Russia.<\/p>\n
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Venezuela factor
\nNew Delhi\u2019s assumption of the BRICS presidency in the New Year coincided with US forces swooping over the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, and abducting President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
\nThis has led to vociferous international condemnation, especially from BRICS nations China, Brazil, and Russia.
\nIndia was cautious in its response, but in holding the presidency of BRICS, New Delhi will have a tough balancing act to do on such issues.<\/p>\n
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The Venezuela swoop also offers BRICS nations an opportunity to raise the issue of the perceived failure of global governance, with reference to the United Nations.
\nA BRICS, with India at the helm, is more equipped to deal with the complexities of charting out a new trade order than a more dominant and assertive China, from the point of view of an antagonistic US.
\nIndia\u2019s major task is to steer the economic and political mandate of a bloc of such gigantic proportions. It should, at the same time, hope to balance the geopolitical complexities of dealing with global powerhouses, with interests in diverse spheres ranging from economy and technology to energy and critical minerals.
\nTrump\u2019s threats
\nLast July, Trump threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries that align with BRICS.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAny Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,\u201d Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
\nThe US President did not mention any specific policy of the grouping to validate his charge of its “anti-American\u201d stance.<\/p>\n
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The charge, meanwhile, came after the bloc leaders slammed tariff policies, calling them\u00a0\u201cunjustified unilateral protectionist measures, including the indiscriminate increase of reciprocal tariffs.\u201d
\nIn August, 2025, Trump imposed a 25% punitive tariff on most Indian imports due to the country\u2019s continued purchases of Russian oil.\u00a0 The levy was in addition to the 25% slapped on the South Asian nation earlier.
\nIn July, Trump issued an Executive Order\u00a0imposing\u00a0a 40% ad valorem duty on\u00a0Brazilian-origin\u00a0imports, raising the total duty on most Brazilian products to 50%. Tariffs were imposed to punish Brazil over the prosecution of its former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro on coup charges. In November, however, \u00a0Trump removed his 40%\u00a0tariffs\u00a0on Brazilian food products, including beef, coffee, cocoa and fruits, making an effective U-turn on some tariffs that have increased the cost of food in the United States. Brazil, for instance, supplied a third of the coffee used in the US and post-tariff, US retail coffee prices rose over 40%.
\nTrade as a tool
\nNo doubt trade will be at the core of BRICS in the present geopolitical context as nations across the world pursue their interests, especially for energy and critical minerals.
\nThis is also significant given that New Delhi itself is pursuing free trade pacts with a dozen countries or trading blocs.\u00a0In 2025, India signed three free trade pacts with the United\u00a0 Kingdom, Oman, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
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India\u2019s moves are seen as a bid to diversify from its top export market, the US. For many nations grappling with tariffs, that is a probable indicator of the shape of things to come.\u00a0
\n\u201cIf you shut off the US to India, by big tariffs, India will have to find other places to sell its exports \u2013 like Russia found another place to sell its energy. India will sell its exports \u2013 no longer to the US \u2013 but to the rest of the BRICS,\u201d\u00a0 a top American economist warned.
\nThat could be a probable trajectory for nations outside the bloc hit by a raft of tariffs.
\nAs tech wars, tariffs, and sanctions occupy the centerstage in the Trump era, the Global South would have to pursue free trade agreements and bilateral pacts to access more trading opportunities. BRICS could be a perfect platform. In May 2025, BRICS members renewed the BRICS 2030 Economic Partnership Strategy and approved a BRICS Declaration on WTO Reform and Strengthening the Multilateral Trading System.
\nAccording to the group, reform is necessary to reflect the transformations of the global economy, as Brasil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, and Russia represent 39% of the global economy and 24% of international trade. The declaration expressed concern over the increase in unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures, as they distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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BRICS clout
\nToday, collectively, BRICS comprises more than a quarter of the global economy and nearly half the world\u2019s population. In 2024, BRICS reached 4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, while worldwide growth stood at 3.3%. The combined GDP of the eleven BRICS member countries is projected to exceed the global average in 2025, according to the World Economic Outlook report released in April by the IMF. The data predicts that the grouping will reach 3.4% in GDP, while the world average will be 2.8%.<\/p>\n
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The collective size of the economies of BRICS is already larger than that of the G7.
\nBRICS\u2019 share of global GDP measured in US dollars adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP) grew from 33% to 38% in 2024, and its share of global goods exports from 20% to 23%.
\nAt the same period, in contrast, the G7, comprising the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK, accounted\u00a0for just 10% of the world\u2019s population, 29% of global GDP measured in PPP-adjusted US dollars, and 29% of global goods exports.
\nThat is too big a factor to ignore.
\nThe biggest expansion of BRICS was in 2024, when Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates attended the first summit as full member states in Kazan, Russia.
\nIndonesia officially joined as a full member in early 2025, becoming the first Southeast Asian member.
\nIt is this resource that India will\u00a0look to tap\u00a0into as a way to diversify global trade mechanisms in the aftermath of US-imposed tariffs.\u00a0 The tariff regime imposed by the Trump administration has influenced the outlook of many countries on diversifying from the US as a major trading partner.
\nThe US tariffs had also prompted economists to urge BRICS to replace the \u201cauthoritarian US international financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n
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India\u2019s presidency of BRICS may help attract many nations to the grouping as a necessity in the context of tariffs. The aim would be to enhance the economic potential of such a collective of nations to build appropriate mechanisms for financial, trade, and economic cooperation.
\nIndia will have to ensure a balance of varied interests, and at the same time steer clear of diplomatic minefields that may upset major global trading powers, especially the US. Interestingly, the Trump administration sees China as the US\u2019 major economic rival rather than its military competitor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi has taken over the presidency of the highly influential and economically powerful grouping for 2026 India has taken over the presidency of BRICS amid sweeping interventions by the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t