BRICS Summit Must Convert Political Goodwill into Trade, Investment and Technology Partnerships: S C Ralhan, President, FIEO

New Delhi, September 9, 2026: The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13 offers India an important opportunity to convert its growing strategic engagement with the Global South into tangible gains in exports, investment, technology and resilient supply chains, said the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
S C Ralhan, President, FIEO, said, “BRICS should now move beyond strategic dialogue to measurable commercial outcomes. For Indian businesses, its real value will lie in easier market access, stronger supply-chain partnerships, investment flows, technology, collaboration and efficient payment mechanisms.”
With the expanded BRICS grouping spanning major economies across Asia, Africa, the Gulf, Latin America and Eurasia, it offers Indian exporters a significantly wider economic footprint. BRICS economies together account for around 26% of global trade, providing India an important platform to diversify exports beyond its traditional markets.
Ralhan said India has considerable opportunities in engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles and apparel, automobiles and auto components, electronics, food and agricultural products, renewable energy, healthcare and digital services. At the same time, closer BRICS cooperation can improve India’s access to critical minerals, energy, technology, capital and new manufacturing partnerships.
“The opportunity is not simply to sell more to BRICS countries. India should become an integral part of the production, sourcing and value chains being developed across these economies,” he said.
FIEO urged the Summit to focus on a few practical deliverables for businesses: faster customs procedures, reduction of non-tariff barriers, greater regulatory transparency, mutual recognition of standards and conformity assessment, improved logistics connectivity, digital trade documentation and easier cross-border payments.
Ralhan particularly highlighted the importance of developing commercially viable mechanisms for greater settlement of intra-BRICS trade in local currencies. “Payment uncertainty can itself become a trade barrier. Efficient, transparent and compliant payment arrangements can reduce transaction costs and give businesses, particularly MSMEs, greater confidence to enter new markets,” he said.
FIEO also called for a much stronger business-to-business architecture within BRICS, including sector-specific buyer-seller meetings, investment matchmaking, technology partnerships, joint ventures and regular business delegations.
“The real test of BRICS will be whether its benefits reach manufacturers, exporters, startups and MSMEs. Political goodwill has to travel from summit tables to shop floors,” Mr. Ralhan said.
India should also leverage its BRICS Chairship to position itself as a preferred manufacturing, sourcing and investment hub for the grouping. Partnerships combining India’s manufacturing capabilities, skilled manpower, entrepreneurial ecosystem and digital infrastructure with the capital, natural resources, technologies and markets of other BRICS economies can create new and resilient global value chains.
Ralhan said, “Trade and investment must move together. We should look at co-production, joint ventures and technology transfer rather than viewing BRICS markets only through the prism of exports and imports.”
FIEO said the New Delhi Summit comes at a time when global businesses are actively diversifying supply chains amid geopolitical and trade uncertainties. This provides India an opportunity to position itself as a reliable alternative sourcing and manufacturing base, while simultaneously expanding its presence across emerging markets.
“India’s BRICS leadership should ultimately be judged by outcomes—more exports, greater investment, stronger technology partnerships and deeper participation of Indian MSMEs in global value chains. If New Delhi can move BRICS in this direction, the Summit can become an important economic milestone for India and the wider Global South,” Ralhan added.