BRICS 2026: Eurasian Economic Union seeks stronger trade, energy, and digital ties with India, says EEC Minister Daniyar Imanaliev

Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in the national capital, Imanaliev highlighted the significance of the global summit and the deep-rooted economic linkages between India and the EAEU bloc.

"Indian BRICS presidency, of course, this is one of the very important events today these days that we are holding in New Delhi," Imanaliev said. "Of course, for the Eurasian Economic Union, India is one of the main trade partners in the region. And we are usually analysing our opportunity to increase the volume of trade between the union countries or member states of the union and India."

Underlining the economic strength and trade capabilities of the grouping, Imanaliev pointed to the unions position as a primary global supplier of essential commodities and energy resources.

"Of course, the main ways how we can increase our cooperation, of course, our union is one of the biggest in the world producer of goods and energy as you know. And we are exporting goods, agricultural goods and food for the Asian-Pacific region, and of course, we are also exporting energy resources, including oil and gas," he noted.

To facilitate seamless economic exchange, the EEC Minister stressed the urgency of strengthening regional connectivity, linking Eurasian infrastructure directly with Indian supply chains.

"So, in this case for the Union, it's very important to build up the economic and transport corridors and also develop our seaports. So, we are talking more about our Eurasian Economic transport corridors that should be having connectivity with the other regional corridors in Asia and Pacific region, including with the routes that connecting our union with India," Imanaliev explained.

Beyond traditional trade in physical goods and energy, Imanaliev called for expanding partnership frontiers into high-tech and digital domains, citing shared expertise between both sides.

"And of course, in this sense, we are also talking about the other sectors, including AI development, cybersecurity, digital economy, because in our case, like in India also, we both sides have a good basis for developing the areas related to the digital economy and digital sectors of the economy," he added. "So, in this sense, we have some own cases and own technologies that we can share... and we can share the experiences and lessons learned from our own way and of course get more insights and more information and lessons from the Indian case."

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that while trade barriers are rising globally, India is building economic bridges, highlighting the country's free trade agreements with nearly 40 countries since 2014.

Addressing the Leaders' Session of the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, PM Modi said India's approach remains focused on reducing barriers and expanding opportunities for businesses.

"Today, while trade barriers are rising globally, India is building economic bridges. Since 2014, we have entered into free trade agreements with nearly 40 countries," PM Modi said.

"Our approach remains focused on reducing barriers and expanding opportunities for businesses. That is why, under our BRICS presidency, we have established new cooperation networks in sectors such as agriculture, health, skills, and smart grids," he said.

He said India has also launched initiatives such as the BRICS Incubator Network, BRICS MSME Portal and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund to connect startups and MSMEs with markets and finance.

The BRICS Business Forum is the flagship private-sector platform of the grouping and brings together business leaders, Ministers and Heads of State to discuss trade, investment, finance, technology and development challenges. (ANI)