The Foreign Ministers of the ten full BRICS members met on Sept. 26 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss every aspect of the global situation as it affects them, from political, economic, financial to security matters. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar chaired the meeting, as India takes up the chairmanship of the group as of January 2026. The Russian Foreign Ministry characterized the discussions as “substantive.”
No concrete measures were announced, but the tone of the Joint Statement issued at the end of their meeting reflected a toughening of their collaboration in the face of spreading global lawlessness and unilateral actions. Top on their agenda was how the BRICS could best defend multilateralism and the principles of the UN Charter, uphold “the central role of the UN in the international system,” and ensure “dialogue and mutual understanding as a basis of international relations.”
While the reports and statements released after the meeting stuck to formal, diplomatic language, a headline on a Times of India’s story on the meeting, “India Throws BRICS at U.S. Wall"—Trump’s “protectionist wall,” it specified—is more reflective of the spirit of discussions, especially when it came to economics matters.
India’s Jaishankar posted at the conclusion of the meeting: “As rising protectionism, tariff volatility and non-tariff barriers impact trade flows, BRICS must defend the multilateral trading system.” The Joint Statement rejected “measures used as a means of coercion that threaten to further reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities, potentially exacerbating existing economic disparities and affecting prospects for global economic development.”
