Modi pledges new trade links and tech cooperation as BRICS chair

At the BRICS Business Forum held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India is actively constructing economic bridges to counter rising global trade barriers. He pointed to a series of free-trade agreements with roughly 40 nations since 2014 and new BRICS-wide platforms such as the Incubator Network, MSME Portal and Startup Innovation Fund to link businesses, startups and SMEs across member economies.

Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to freedom of navigation, citing the loss of at least ten Indian seafarers in the West Asia war and five in Black Sea incidents. He described India's broader strategy of diversifying supply chains and investing in infrastructure, shipbuilding, semiconductors, quantum technologies and critical minerals, which helped deliver 7.8% GDP growth in the first quarter. The prime minister also highlighted the country's digital payments breakthrough, noting that the Unified Payments Interface now processes half of the world’s real-time transactions. Finally, he urged delegates to leverage these cooperation frameworks to boost investment, talent exchange and innovation among BRICS nations.