BRICS Business Forum 2026: Jaishankar calls for resilient supply chains, predictable business environment across BRICS countries

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called for more predictable business environments, resilient supply chains and diversified trade relationships across BRICS nations, saying the grouping’s economic strength would increasingly depend on its ability to absorb global shocks while remaining connected and competitive.

Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum, Jaishankar said the grouping was meeting at a time of major geopolitical and economic disruption, with conflicts, pandemics and climate-related events reshaping economies even as digitisation and technological advances create new opportunities for growth.

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“We meet at a time when global political and economic order is under churn. Volatility, uncertainty, and complexity have become defining features of the world around us,” he said.

Jaishankar said the BRICS business community had a role beyond identifying commercial opportunities, arguing that the forum should focus on the conditions needed to make cross-border business easier and more resilient.

He pointed to supply-chain connectivity and trade facilitation as key priorities, alongside services, agriculture and agri-technology, digital delivery, MSMEs, start-ups and women-led enterprises.

The common objective, he said, should be to help businesses find more partners, access more markets, connect supply networks and turn complementarities between economies into viable commercial partnerships.

From resilience to self-reliance

Jaishankar linked stronger economic ties within BRICS to greater economic security and self-reliance, while cautioning that this should not mean turning inward.

“For BRICS, particularly, higher economic activity, higher economic security means greater self-reliance,” he said.

He said building the ability to withstand shocks would require “genuine market practices, dependable logistics, predictable business environment, diversified commercial relationships, and transparent trade and investment.”

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Energy systems would also need to be capable of dealing with disruption and transition, he said, while recognising that countries would follow different pathways depending on their national circumstances.

The minister also highlighted the growing intersection of technology, economics and geopolitics. Digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech and advanced manufacturing offer significant opportunities, but also raise questions around access, standards, security and trust.

India pushes startup and innovation links

Jaishankar said India’s BRICS chairship had sought to strengthen the grouping’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, including through the BRICS incubator network, which aims to connect start-ups and incubators across member countries.

He also pointed to the BRICS Startup Innovation Fund as a mechanism to support innovation-driven entrepreneurship.

India, he said, was well placed to contribute to this effort through its large and growing market, expanding manufacturing capabilities, talent base, digital experience and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

With BRICS leaders preparing to meet, Jaishankar urged businesses to keep the focus on practical outcomes — identifying opportunities, highlighting obstacles and spelling out what governments can do to address them.

“The strength of the BRICS will be measured not only by the breadth of its agenda. It will also be measured by the partnerships that it enables, by the opportunities that it creates, and by the results it delivers,” he said.