Nirmala Sitharaman highlights India's strong economic resilience at BRICS

The finance minister, as part of her intervention at the meeting, said that India's policy response to trade and financial restrictions has focused on diversifying markets, promoting infrastructure-led growth, and implementing structural reforms aimed at boosting competitiveness and productivity.

The Union Finance Minister underlined India's view that BRICS is a vital platform for advancing inclusive multilateralism, especially when global institutions are facing a crisis of legitimacy and representation -- BRICS must lead by example by reinforcing cooperation, advocating credible reforms, and amplifying the voice of the Global South.

Finance Minister Sitharaman also said that while South-South cooperation remains vital in advancing climate and development goals, the Global South should not be expected to carry the main burden of climate action, and BRICS countries are well placed to deepen cooperation on sustainable development.

According to the joint statement put out on Sunday, hours before the Summit, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the BRICS countries have called on advanced economies and the international financial system to provide "substantial" finance for climate mitigation in developing economies.

"...We call on advanced economies and other relevant actors in the international financial system as well as the private sector to provide substantial finance for climate actions in developing countries, including by expanding concessional finance and increasing private capital mobilisation," the joint statement read.

"Given the significant adaptation needs of EMDEs (Emerging Market and Developing Economies), we call on international financial institutions to scale up support for adaptation and to help create an enabling environment that encourages greater private sector participation in mitigation efforts," the joint statement continued.

India, a BRICS member, has always been vocal about climate finance arrangements, primarily from the developed countries that are huge carbon emitters. India continued to be vocal about the need for adequate finance, particularly for the Global South.

Climate finance typically refers to any financing that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.

Developing countries have been of the view that developed nations bear a greater historical responsibility for emissions and should take the lead in mitigation and finance.

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the BRICS countries had gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 5, 2025, under the theme "Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance".

BRICS member countries encompass almost half of the world's population, spreading across four continents, and their economies account for nearly 40 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product. (ANI)