16th BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting Concludes in Jaipur
India successfully concluded the 16th BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting on August 7, 2026, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, under India's BRICS Chairship. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal and attended by Union Minister of State Shri Jitin Prasada and Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal. The meeting brought together trade ministers, vice ministers, and officials from BRICS member countries including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.
Key Outcomes and Agreements
The meeting resulted in a Chair's Statement and Outcome Document comprising four annexes. BRICS members commended India's leadership in progressing toward finalizing the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030, which spans multiple areas including the multilateral trading system, trade in services, digital economy, industry, innovation and technology, trade and investment, financial cooperation, and sustainable development.
Ministers issued the Jaipur Consensus to study a BRICS Invoice Discounting Mechanism and adopted the Guiding Principles for Credit Assessment Frameworks for Export-Oriented MSMEs. These instruments directly address the global trade finance gap of approximately USD 2.5 trillion that particularly impacts smaller enterprises, forming part of the Workplan on the Internationalisation of MSMEs adopted as Annex-II.
The Workplan on the BRICS Shared Understanding on Global Value Chains (Annex-III) carries the GVC Action Plan 2026-2030, including initiatives such as a BRICS Technical Council, BRICS Connect, BRICS GVC Joint Study, and the possibility of establishing strategic supply chain and investment promotion platforms in sectors including pharmaceuticals and food security.
The BRICS Principles to Facilitate Digitally Delivered Services Across Borders were adopted as Annex-IV, aimed at promoting cooperation in safe and secure digitally delivered services.
India's Strategic Priorities
India emphasized safeguarding the interests of Indian farmers, securing food and livelihood security, and preserving Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries in the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core. India reaffirmed its vision of a reformed, development-oriented, member-driven and consensus-based multilateral trading system, calling for restoration of a fully functioning, two-tier and binding dispute settlement system.
The Minister underlined that the most-favoured-nation principle, together with Special and Differential Treatment, remains the cornerstone of a fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based order, and that reform must strengthen this cornerstone rather than dilute it.
India's priorities for the Chairship included strengthening the multilateral trading system; building resilient and diversified global value chains; internationalization of MSMEs and their access to trade finance; and seamless flow of digitally delivered services across borders.