India pushes BRICS to break trade barriers, Iran bats for local currency

NEW DELHI: Local currencies in trade, freedom of navigation and secure sea lanes received a strong push at the BRICS Summit on Friday, held in the backdrop of the US’s trade and tariff policies disrupting global trade.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for BRICS to turn its growing economic weight into greater investment and expanded business ties, stressing that freedom of navigation, secure sea lanes and the safety of seafarers were essential to keeping global trade running, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a stronger shift toward local currencies in BRICS trade, while pitching Iran’s geography, energy resources and transport links as a strategic bridge for the bloc’s economic connectivity.

The remarks came amid wars in two theatres and geopolitical conflicts disrupting energy and other trade through vital sea lanes, raising prices and disrupting supply chains. Indian ships have been attacked during the US-Iran conflict and the country’s seafarers have been abducted by pirates.

Addressing the BRICS Business Forum in India, Modi urged the grouping to identify and remove its top 10 trade barriers, scale 100 BRICS startups into other member markets every year and build 1,000 new business partnerships annually.

The grouping, he said, should convert its growing economic weight into concrete opportunities for businesses, positioning India as a country building “economic bridges” at a time when trade barriers are rising globally.

Pezeshkian said BRICS must move beyond its economic potential and build a more integrated network of trade, investment and joint financing. The Iranian President said the current financial system is vulnerable to political shocks due to its concentration on a limited number of currencies.

He argued that greater use of national currencies, backed by mechanisms to manage currency risks and reciprocal settlements, would make intra-BRICS trade less vulnerable to political shocks.

Modi also sought to use India’s digital public infrastructure as a platform for deeper BRICS cooperation. He highlighted UPI’s population-scale deployment and said BRICS innovators could draw on India’s experience to develop digital solutions suited to their own markets. Pezeshkian also positioned Iran as a potential link in BRICS energy, food and transport supply chains, citing its geographical location and energy reserves.

He called for deeper integration of trade infrastructure, including digitised customs procedures, reduced regulatory barriers and stronger cross-border markets.