Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi called on the Brics to cooperate in order to secure and rely on supply chains for vital minerals and technologies.
In his remarks during the session on “Strengthening multilateralism, economic financial matters, and artificial intelligence” during the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, the prime minister stated: “It’s important to ensure that no country uses these resources for its own selfish gain or as a weapon against others.” Together with India, Russia, and Brazil, China is a founding member of the 11-member Brics organization, whose 17th summit just ended. China also controls a sizable portion of the world’s supply of essential minerals, particularly rare-earth elements.
Increasing collaboration in the import and processing of vital minerals, particularly rare-earth elements, in four of the five nations he has visited or plans to visit— Ghana, Namibia, Argentina, and Brazil—is a major goal of the prime minister’s current international journey, which is his longest in ten years.
India’s hunt for vital minerals coincides with China’s coercive measures in the industry, which include price manipulation and supply restrictions. A solid and reliable substitute for aiding the development goals of nations in the Global South was provided by the Brics New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB must prioritize demand-driven strategies, long-term financial viability, and a strong credit rating when approving projects.
The prime minister also raised issues regarding artificial intelligence (AI) risks, ethics, and bias, and urged member nations to collaborate on “responsible AI,” which calls for the creation of “global standards that can verify the authenticity of digital content, so that we can identify the source of the content and maintain
transparency and prevent misuse.”
He announced that the “AI Impact Summit” would be held in India the following year. In 2026, India will host the 18th Brics summit as well. American President Donald Trump declared he would impose an additional 10% tariff on any nation that aligns itself with “the anti-American policies of Brics,” a day after the Brics declaration expressed “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.”
The United States had not been named in the Brics declaration. The practices that Trump deemed “anti American” were not mentioned in his post, nor was there any information on when any of the tariffs may be applied. However, Mao Ning, the spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, responded cautiously to Trump’s threat. The spokeswoman stated at a Beijing media briefing that Brics did not target any foreign countries and was not a confrontational bloc.