BRICS New Delhi Declaration backs local currency payments, condemns unilateral sanctions and tariffs

Key facts

• The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi, where leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration on September 13, 2026, condemning unilateral coercive measures such as economic and secondary sanctions and opposing discriminatory trade practices like the carbon border tax.
• The declaration acknowledged the BRICS Payment Task Force (BPTF) for exploring pragmatic cross-border payment solutions and trade settlements in local currencies, guided by the Kazan Declaration of October 2024 and the Rio Declaration of July 2025.
• The BPTF became part of the BRICS financial agenda during Russia's chairship in 2020 and was specifically mentioned in the Moscow Declaration adopted at the XII BRICS Summit on November 17, 2020.
• Leaders voiced serious concerns over unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures, including 'indiscriminate rising of tariffs' and 'protectionism under the guise of environmental objectives', a reference to instruments like the European Union's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
• The CBAM is a levy on carbon-intensive imports such as cement, aluminium, fertilisers, chemicals including hydrogen, and iron and steel, and developing-country exporters could face additional duties of up to 35% in European markets.
• India faced a 25% punitive tariff in August 2025 for purchasing Russian crude oil.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi that Russia had been hit with more than 30,000 sanctions.
• BRICS is a bloc of 21 countries with 11 members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — and 10 partner countries: Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
• US President Donald Trump threatened a 100% tariff on BRICS member states after the Kazan Summit if they created a new BRICS currency or backed any alternative to the US dollar, and later warned of an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning with BRICS' 'anti-American policies' while leaders met in Rio in July 2025.