Brics envoys push for anti-terror unity, trade in local currencies

Business Standard

4 hours ago

Ahead of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro next month, envoys of leading member nations of the grouping underlined the need for greater focus to combat terrorism and called for mainstreaming the interests and aspirations of the Global South.
With US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs encouraging a trend towards de-dollarisation, the envoys also backed the expansion of the use of national currencies for intra-BRICS trade and pitched for deeper cooperation on economic issues.
India, on its part, stressed on the pivotal importance of the grouping in promoting scalable solutions for the Global South or developing nations in areas of financial inclusion and advocated greater use of national currency in international trade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the Brazilian city to attend the crucial BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit.
"BRICS has to get its act together and find solutions for the Global South. This requires commitment, a lot of hard work, and to be able to look deep into those issues, into the future," said Dammu Ravi, India's BRICS sherpa and Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Ravi highlighted India's growing stakes in shaping BRICS as both a development platform and a geopolitical force.
"We are not just participants -- we are contributors to the very direction BRICS takes," he noted.
The senior diplomat emphasised that India's successful development models -- particularly in poverty alleviation, financial inclusion, and digital public infrastructure -- should be viewed as templates for wider application across the Global South.
Ravi was speaking at a conference titled "BRICS in Rio: Shaping an Inclusive and Sustainable World Order," on Friday evening.
The conference was co-organised by the Embassy of Brazil in India and Centre for Global India Insights (CGII), a leading think tank focused on global affairs.
Besides Ravi, Brazil's Ambassador to India Kenneth Felix Haczynski da Nobrega, Russia's Ambassador to India Denis Alipov, Indonesia Ambassador Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi and Egypt's envoy Kamel Zayed Kamel Galal. The envoys spoke in one voice on the need to enhance greater cooperation among the BRICS nations to combat terrorism.
"We issued a strong condemnation. That shows BRICS can speak with one voice on core issues," he said while alluding to the grouping's response to terrorism, citing the April 22 Pahalgam attack in India.
The grouping, he added, is evolving into a "more comprehensive and more representative" platform with its latest round of expansion.
BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, with Indonesia joining in 2025.
The conference, moderated by Manish Chand, CEO of CGII, focused on the role of BRICS in promoting sustainable solutions to challenges faced by the Global South in the context of the BRICS summit in Rio.
"The Rio summit will mark the ongoing ascendance of the Global South in the international arena. We hope that the upcoming Summit will be an opportunity to strengthen BRICS' role as a platform to voice the concerns and interests of the Global South," said Chand.
Extending Russia's support for Brazil's BRICS presidency and its emphasis on enhancing cooperation among Global South nations, the Russian envoy commended efforts to diversify financial mechanisms and backed expansion of the use of national currencies in intra-BRICS trade.
Alluding to a complex geopolitical environment, marked by increased polarisation and distrust, Brazil's envoy Nobrega underlined that the Brazilian presidency is seeking to update the work dynamics of the grouping while staying true to BRICS acquis and its gold standard: "pragmatic, patient and inclusive consensus building".
"The expanded BRICS holds out the promise of reform of international institutions with inclusiveness, with the Global South exercising effective influence on its reconfiguration," Nobrega said.
"Despite the mistaken impressions of some, BRICS is not working against anyone, but exclusively in favour of the sustainable development of its members, as well as for the reform of global governance institutions." The motto of the Brazilian chairship is "Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance." The summit will culminate in two high-level declarations on financing the climate change regime and the governance of artificial intelligence.
Enhancing the use of national currencies in settling intra-BRICS trade figured prominently in discussions, with all panelists backing the proposal, which is already being implemented by BRICS countries.
However, the panelists found the idea of a BRICS common currency impractical.
Ravi clarified that discussions around a BRICS common currency are still at a very early stage.
"Today, for now, we are only looking at trade settlement in national currencies. Harmonisation of fiscal and monetary policies is very, very difficult to achieve, he said.
Accelerating reform of global governance institutions is also expected to figure prominently on the agenda of the BRICS summit in Rio.
In this context, Indonesia's Ambassador Krisnamurthi called for better representation of the Global South in multilateral institutions.
"Right now, the Global South represents 85 per cent of the world's population and 39 per cent of global GDP. Yet multilateral institutions do not reflect this reality," she said.
Outlining Cairo's vision for the upcoming Rio summit, the Egyptian ambassador emphasised the need to "reform and strengthen the multilateral system in a way that reflects the evolving dynamics and the rising role of developing countries." "We are keen that the group should focus on areas of cooperation that enjoy consensus, rather than divisive issues," said the Egyptian envoy.
FICCI Secretary General Jyoti Vij outlined the role of the BRICS Business Council in enhancing economic linkages among BRICS countries and underlined that the use of national currencies will greatly help businesses as it will help cut transaction costs.
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