B S Dara
bsdara@gmail.com
Trade in today’s world is no longer a neutral economic tool. It has become a strategic weapon. Washington has increasingly used tariffs to advance political goals, including against partners it publicly calls allies. India experienced this first hand in 2019 when the United States removed it from the Generalized System of Preferences, a program that had allowed duty-free access for nearly $6.3 billion worth of Indian exports, affecting sectors such as leather, engineering goods and textiles. The Indian Commerce Ministry estimated the direct annual loss to exporters at around $190 million. The move was framed as a market access issue but its political intent was clear. Align with U.S. trade demands or face consequences.
That approach has since hardened, with steel and aluminium tariffs remaining in place and repeated threats emerging against Indian pharmaceutical and IT services exports. Trade pressure has become a routine instrument of American diplomacy. New Delhi responded with restraint, entering negotiations and offering limited concessions, yet the structural imbalance persisted. Washington retained leverage while India remained largely on the defensive.
This is where BRICS matters.
BRICS today is no symbolic forum. With the expansion of membership, the bloc now accounts for a significantly large share of the global economy, representing an estimated 39-40 percent of global GDP in purchasing power parity terms according to IMF projections of world GDP share. India’s trade with BRICS members crossed an estimated $380 billion in 2023, with China accounting for the largest share but also with steady commerce growth with Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. Energy ties have deepened sharply. India imports more than 85 percent of its crude oil requirements, and Russia has remained a major supplier, accounting for roughly a third to nearly 40 percent of India’s total crude imports in recent years according to trade analytics. Payment systems outside the dollar framework have quietly expanded. Every transaction outside the dollar reduces exposure to U.S. financial pressure.
Zongyuan Zoe Liu from the Council on Foreign Relations notes that reducing reliance on the dollar is about lowering vulnerability to financial coercion rather than replacing the dollar itself. BRICS is building parallel financial channels. India should play a central role in this process. The BRICS New Development Bank has already approved more than $35 billion in financing. Over 30 percent of its lending now happens in local currencies, reducing reliance on dominant global financial systems that are tied to U.S. monetary policy. Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has warned that global trade is deeply intertwined with geopolitics, affirming that economic policy cannot be separated from strategic power considerations. India must adapt to this reality. Washington understands the implications. When BRICS discussed alternatives to existing settlement mechanisms, U.S. officials publicly downplayed the idea, yet concern remained in policy circles. The dollar’s influence is anchored in limited alternatives; BRICS is creating those alternatives step by step.
New Delhi has moved carefully, with strategic ties with the U.S. growing through defense cooperation and the QUAD framework while BRICS membership has continued in parallel. Such caution is understandable, yet prolonged restraint carries a cost. Each time India steps back from BRICS exercises and initiatives, it weakens its own bargaining position. Strategic autonomy is built through choices. Professor Harsh Pant from King’s College London argues that India’s leverage with the U.S. depends on demonstrating independent policy decisions; BRICS offers that space.
We saw how leverage works during the steel tariff episode when India imposed retaliatory duties on 28 U.S. products worth $1.4 billion, including almonds, apples, and walnuts from California. American farm lobbies reacted quickly, followed by pressure from Congress, showing how economic countermeasures can generate political impact and influence negotiations. A coordinated BRICS economic push could work in a similar way through local currency settlements, preferential trade agreements, energy cooperation, and development financing. Each step would gradually reduce U.S. economic dominance without direct confrontation.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once observed that control over energy, money, and food defines power. BRICS is steadily building influence across all three areas. India must clarify its approach, maintaining engagement with the U.S. while asserting its autonomy rather than accepting a subordinate position. Active participation in BRICS sends a clear message that India has multiple strategic options and intends to engage from a position of confidence. This approach focuses on building economic and diplomatic buffers that protect national interests. In a world where trade pressure can appear overnight, India requires reliable safeguards and BRICS offers that support. The message to Washington should remain measured and steady, since tariffs may cause short-term strain but pressure also creates space for alternative partnerships that gradually reduce dominance.
India’s foreign policy has long valued independence, once described as non-alignment and today expressed through multi-alignment, yet the core principle remains unchanged. Power lies in the ability to choose. BRICS is a strategic tool that New Delhi should employ steadily and purposefully. In geopolitics, leverage carries greater long-term value than loyalty.
And perhaps this moment demands the old wisdom of poet Mirza Ghalib, who understood betrayal long before geopolitics learned its language.
Tum unke vaade ka zikr unse kyun karo, ‘Ghalib’,
Ye kya ki tum kaho aur wo kahen-yaad nahin.
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