Amitabh Kant lays down three-step formula for India to move forward during BRICS Summit

India must ensure that the language of the BRICS summit document is progressive and forward-looking, Amitabh Kant, former India G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog, highlighted ahead of the bloc's summit beginning September 11.

"It is important that we are able to resolve the differences despite the conflict in West Asia. When you have Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, it is highly complex. But India must play a key role in getting the right minimum language to be able to resolve this," Kant said. He added that, apart from the BRICS summit, there would be significant bilateral engagement.

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"The Prime Minister will be meeting Putin and Xi Jinping, and the China-India play on issues of development, trade and technology is critical," Kant said at the India Today BRICS Roundtable.

Kant said he expected further movement in India-China relations, which had been progressing smoothly before tensions led India to introduce Press Note 3. He also referred to changes in the foreign direct investment framework, saying that beneficial ownership had now been defined under Press Note 3, allowing up to 10% investment by Chinese entities under specified conditions.

"But we need a movement forward. We need to advance this forward," Kant said.

Kant's three step formula:

• India should push for a progressive, forward-looking BRICS summit document and help bridge differences over West Asia.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could drive significant bilateral engagement alongside the summit.
• India should push for further movement in ties with China, particularly on development, trade and technology.

Former NITI Aayog chief said India’s foreign policy has been shaped by a strategy of being “multi-aligned”, allowing it to deepen economic partnerships across competing geopolitical blocs while pursuing its growth ambitions.

“To achieve our ambition of economic growth, we have done multiple FTAs. But we also have to work with Russia and China,” Kant said, arguing that India cannot afford to view its economic and strategic relationships through the lens of a single alliance.

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Energy security will remain a key challenge, he said, particularly as India pursues its ambition of becoming a developed economy. India will continue to require fossil fuel imports for the foreseeable future, with energy purchases adding pressure on the rupee and affecting the broader economy.

Kant also flagged the strategic implications of developments in West Asia, saying that if the US were to succeed in controlling Iranian crude, it could potentially gain majority influence over a significant share of the world's fossil fuel resources.

India will therefore need to navigate its relationships with major powers carefully, including the US and China, while safeguarding its energy and economic interests, he said.

On China, Kant said Beijing's economic model remains heavily focused on exports rather than imports, while its domestic market continues to be marked by non-tariff barriers.

India should use bilateral discussions with China to press for the transfer of clean-energy technologies to other BRICS partners, Kant said. He argued that China's dominance over critical clean-energy technologies had become a strategic concern, with Beijing increasingly “weaponising” its technological capabilities.

“We do a very substantial amount of imports from China. It's very important to understand that China is weaponising all its new technologies,” Kant said.

He highlighted this should also be a key issue during PM Modi's bilateral engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping. India, he said, must understand the implications of China's control over clean-energy supply chains, particularly technologies such as batteries, where concentrated market power can influence prices.

Kant said India must simultaneously strengthen its own technological capabilities. He pointed to the opening up of key sectors such as geospatial services, drones and space, along with India's push into cutting-edge technologies including semiconductors, as two major developments.

These initiatives could give India “quantum growth”, he said.

As India gears up to host BRICS, Kant said the country should focus its agenda on trade, investment, development and climate issues. BRICS nations account for a significant share of global trade, and greater cooperation could benefit economies across the Global South, he added.

A key lesson from India's G20 presidency, according to Kant, is the importance of building consensus through multilateral negotiations. Achieving consensus should be the hallmark of India's BRICS presidency as well, he said, particularly given the expansion of the grouping and the differing interests of its members.

At the same time, Kant stressed the importance of India's relationship with the US.

“No country has made wealth without working with the US,” he said, arguing that India must act as a “mature, seasoned player” capable of steering through increasingly turbulent geopolitical conditions.

India's ability to build consensus among countries with competing strategic and economic interests could itself become a major achievement during its BRICS presidency, he said.

Beyond geopolitical conflicts and disruptions to global supply chains, Kant said BRICS must also confront the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence as one of the biggest drivers of global change.

“While there are conflicts that break down the supply chain, there's also the emergence of artificial intelligence as a very key driver for global growth and prosperity,” he said.

The growing global competition around AI also makes it essential to establish frameworks for its responsible use, Kant added.