Belarus ready for deep industrial cooperation and widen agri sector partnership with India: FM Maxim Ryzhenkov

Belarus is a partner country of BRICS. India-Belarus partnership is rooted in the Soviet Union era and taking new wings in the current age. While potash fertilisers and Indian pharmaceuticals remain key items of business, the trade basket has long expanded beyond them. Belarus is ready for deeper industrial cooperation and is highly interested in the advanced development of Indian pharmaceutical companies, and prepared to establish joint ventures and localise production in India, including agricultural and cargo machinery, as well as fertilisers, Belarus Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, representing Belarus at BRICS Summit told ET's Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury.

How would you characterise the current state of India-Belarus relations? Which areas, in your view, require further improvement?

Belarus and India are separated by thousands of kilometres, but distance is no obstacle when there is mutual interest and goodwill.


Our friendship is rooted in the Soviet era and has only grown stronger since. Today, it encompasses political dialogue, economic cooperation and vibrant people-to-people ties. Interest in India within Belarus is growing year on year.

This friendship also has very tangible symbols. For instance, Minsk features Bangalore Square, and this year Minsk and Bangalore celebrate the 40th anniversary of their town twinning. Many Belarusians are genuinely passionate about yoga, and filmmakers from both nations actively collaborate. Such things cannot be measured by trade turnover, yet they are precisely what builds mutual trust.

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High-level contacts between the President of Belarus and the Prime Minister of India at multilateral forums have fostered a high level of mutual understanding. One such example occurred on 17 August 2024, when the President of the Republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, delivered a virtual address during the opening session of Heads of State and Government at the 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit.

These contacts do not merely allow us to align our positions on key issues; they send a clear signal to government bodies and businesses regarding the importance of further strengthening Belarusian-Indian trade and economic ties.

On this basis, active interaction is developing between the foreign ministries of Belarus and India. A vital tool is the Belarusian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation in the Fields of Economy, Trade, Industry, Science, Technology and Culture. Within its framework, relevant government authorities, organisations and businesses meet regularly to discuss ways to boost bilateral trade and identify new areas of growth.

The results are clear. By the end of 2025, our bilateral trade turnover exceeded 1 billion US dollars for the first time, and this growth continues into 2026. However, it is not just about the numbers: we are deliberately diversifying our trade.

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While potash fertilisers and Indian pharmaceuticals remain key items, our trade basket has long expanded beyond them.

Belarus is ready for deeper industrial cooperation. We are highly interested in the advanced developments of Indian pharmaceutical companies, and work is already underway to promote them in Belarus.

In turn, we are prepared to establish joint ventures and localise production in India, including agricultural and cargo machinery, as well as fertilisers. Naturally, it is also crucial to work together to create favourable conditions for cooperation between our companies, which includes establishing and improving logistics and transport channels for goods.

I would particularly like to highlight people-to-people contacts. A draft document to enable e-visas for Indian citizens is currently under consideration by the Belarusian Government. We aim to increase the number of airports servicing direct flights between our countries and have already submitted relevant proposals to the Indian side. This will pave the way for tourists – and we are ready to welcome visitors from India, paying close attention to their interests and preferences. Thus, step by step, we have established a comprehensive matrix of relations: official, business and personal.

How can India and Belarus strengthen their defence partnership, given Belarusian expertise and India’s growing defence industry?

Here, we touch upon an area where our countries already have a solid foundation. The Indian Army possesses a substantial fleet of Soviet-era military hardware. Belarus, in turn, has extensive experience and proven expertise in servicing and modernising Soviet- and Russian-designed equipment. These are facts that speak for themselves.

Alongside the bilateral track, we stand ready to further strengthen cooperation with India at international platforms, including BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This primarily refers to joint forums and seminars on regional security, counter-terrorism and combating transnational crime. This is a case where collective efforts yield far more than the mere sum of individual contributions.

What are Belarus’s expectations from the BRICS Summit as a partner country?

First and foremost, we are grateful to India for inviting Belarus to the summit as a partner country and overall, for its constructive stance towards cooperation with partners throughout the Indian BRICS Chairship. Thanks to this approach, this year we have participated not only in the traditional meeting of Foreign Ministers but also in specialised BRICS meetings on healthcare, culture and agriculture, as well as those held at the level of Chief Justices of Supreme Courts.

We expect that Belarus's active involvement in the grouping’s work at all levels and in various formats will, in due course, bring us closer to our ultimate goal – a full membership of the association.

The motto of the Indian presidency this year, “Strengthening Resilience, Promoting Innovation, Expanding Cooperation, and Advancing Sustainable Development”, is more relevant today than ever before. I believe these very themes will be at the heart of the summit’s discussions.

In an era of instability, it is of paramount importance that BRICS member states and partner nations develop reliable mechanisms to protect their sovereignty, economies and societies. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Indian side for supporting Belarus' candidacy to become a shareholder of the New Development Bank.

It is also noteworthy that Belarus is a nation with a highly advanced information technology sector; thus, we are keen to discuss the subject of artificial intelligence and the ethical, economic and other challenges associated with it. We are convinced that innovation should foster universal prosperity and progress rather than being turned into a tool of division and dominance.

The members and partners of BRICS – which is undoubtedly perceived worldwide as the voice of the Global majority and a vital force for ensuring global stability, progress and a fairer future – consistently advocate for a multilateral approach in international relations. We do not call for the dismantling of the international order, but for its modernisation, to make it more representative, inclusive and democratic. Global governance mustn’t remain the privilege of a small “club” of nations.

Sustainable development remains an absolute priority, encompassing a harmonious blend of economic growth, social justice and environmental conservation.

Belarus views BRICS not merely as an association, but rather as a strategic platform for shaping the future. The grouping faces ambitious tasks, which can only be addressed through concerted efforts.

How would you characterise India’s leadership across the Global South and its people-centred approach?

For Belarus, India stands as a leader in the global struggle against colonialism and poverty.

We follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative on the seven “sources of strength” (“Sapta Dhara”) closely and consider it worthy of in-depth study. Its consistent implementation has the potential, over the coming years and decades, to elevate India to a qualitatively new level of development, grounded in the fundamental interests of its people. India is well positioned to serve as a flagship and a role model for many nations across the Global South.

Most importantly, a commitment to social welfare and care for ordinary people is the common bond that unites our states and our leaders.

Belarus in a changing world order...

We proceed from the premise that the so-called liberal international order, which dominated world politics following the end of the Cold War, is undergoing a profound crisis. Its collapse is neither accidental nor reversible. This order was never genuinely liberal; it was hegemonic and unjust, and its historical track record raises serious questions.

On the one hand, the West proclaimed noble ideals: globalisation that lifts all nations, free trade that creates mutual prosperity, and connectivity that leads to shared progress. On the other hand, it applied these principles selectively and undermined them cynically. Behind the rhetoric of mutually beneficial cooperation lay policies aimed at containing the development of the developing world. Their instruments have included the instigation of wars, the weaponisation of unilateral coercive measures, and other mechanisms designed to preserve dominance.

Yet the world is changing. With the rise of the rest, the hegemonic system is disintegrating, and a multipolar world order is taking its place. Its foundations are already being laid through dynamic integration processes within the SCO, the EAEU, ASEAN, BRICS, and other structures that are becoming the pillars of a new architecture. These associations reflect the aspiration of the countries of the Global Majority to determine their own destiny without external dictation, in harmony with their civilisational identities. The Global majority is not a monolith. It encompasses diverse nations, ranging from rising powers such as China and India to small developing states. Yet they are all bound by a common pursuit: the desire for genuine sovereignty and a seat at the table where global decisions are made.

Belarus is contributing to this historic shift through its initiative for the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the XXI Century. First voiced in 2023, it represents the logical culmination of two decades of Belarusian diplomatic endeavours, building on the call made by President Aleksandr Lukashenko at the 2005 UN Summit to respect the diversity of paths of progressive development. Crucially, this will be an indigenous initiative of Eurasian states, shaped by and for the peoples of Eurasia.

The Charter will help construct a new pan-Eurasian security architecture grounded in the principle of indivisibility: no state should strengthen its own security at the expense of others. We propose giving this principle concrete substance through specific mechanisms: a consultative conflict prevention mechanism to defuse tensions before they escalate; commitments against unilateral coercive measures, which are currently being weaponised against sovereign states; and regular confidence-building measures across the continent to foster transparency and mutual trust. In doing so, the Charter will complement existing frameworks, including the UN and the OSCE, which have frequently found themselves paralysed by geopolitical rivalry or double standards. It will offer a new, inclusive platform based on the indivisibility principle – one long proclaimed, yet rarely put into practice.

The Charter will not be limited solely to security. It will reinforce economic cooperation, humanitarian links, and civilisational dialogue across the entire Eurasian space. It is not directed against any third party, nor will it compete with existing regional groupings. Rather, it is envisioned as an overarching strategic umbrella – a foundation that will imbue the work of the SCO, the EAEU, the CIS, ASEAN, and other structures with a renewed sense of shared purpose.

The importance of Eurasia is immense: it is home to approximately 70 per cent of the world’s population, and it concentrates a substantial share of global natural resources and key transit arteries. Consequently, the impact of the Charter will resonate far beyond the continent itself.

Negotiations on the Charter are scheduled to be launched in New York on 25 September 2026, and Belarus, alongside other participants, expects to finalise the document by the end of 2027. The Charter is open to all Eurasian nations, including the member states of the European Union. We welcome their engagement, even if their initial posture towards the initiative remains sceptical.

The adoption of the Eurasian Charter will mark an important step towards a just multipolar world order – an order in which every nation enjoys the sovereign right to choose its own development trajectory, and where the Global Majority finally assumes its rightful place, not as an object of history, but as its architect.