NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for a three-pillar strategy to deepen trade within the expanded BRICS grouping, while stressing that stronger economic integration would depend on secure sea lanes, open supply routes and the safety of seafarers as geopolitical conflicts increasingly disrupt global commerce.
Addressing the BRICS Business Forum here, Modi urged the BRICS Business Council to identify and remove the bloc’s top 10 trade barriers, support 100 startups every year to expand into other BRICS markets and create 1,000 new business partnerships annually, with progress reviewed every year.
“As BRICS enters its third decade, I would like to urge the BRICS Business Council: Can you prepare a report on removing the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS nations? Can we support 100 BRICS startups annually to scale up in other BRICS markets? Can we forge a thousand new partnerships among our businesses? We should review our progress on these three parameters every year,” Modi said.
At the same time, Modi placed maritime security at the heart of his vision for expanding global trade, warning that economic growth and supply-chain resilience could not be separated from the security of shipping routes. This carries significance as conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea have disrupted shipping routes, raised freight and insurance costs and exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains.
Modi’s proposals came against a broader backdrop of rising protectionism, sanctions and geopolitical fragmentation, with emerging economies seeking to build more resilient trade and investment links within the Global South. His pitch was to move BRICS towards measurable economic integration.
“The economic strength of BRICS has grown at nearly twice the pace of the rest of the world,” Modi said, describing BRICS nations as emerging hubs for innovation and solutions.
The economic agenda unfolded alongside a sharper geopolitical message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who criticised sanctions and what he described as coercive economic pressure. Putin also sought to highlight BRICS’ growing economic weight relative to the Western-led G7. “Over the last five years, more than 40% of the world GDP has been produced by the BRICS countries, whereas the contribution of the so-called G7, the Group of Seven—I don’t know why they call that the Group of Seven—stands at only 29%,” he said.
Putin stressed that Russia is not working against anyone. “What we are doing is not against anyone. We are in favour of our interests,” he said while calling for greater cooperation in infrastructure, logistics, finance and technology.