India’s double standards exposed as Modi skips BRICS virtual summit
New Delhi: Just a week after appearing in widely circulated images with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip the BRICS virtual summit next week, a move that starkly exposes New Delhi’s double standards in international diplomacy.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the virtual summit scheduled for September 8, will discuss multilateralism and US tariff measures, but India will be represented only by its External Affairs Minister. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal at the weekly briefing said, “From our side, it will be the external affairs minister who will be participating in it [virtual meeting].”
The absence of Modi contrasts sharply with the optics of him laughing and standing alongside Xi and Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, signaling India’s growing engagement with China and Russia. Yet, the non-attendance at BRICS—where discussions will include US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports, partly penalizing purchases of Russian oil—reveals India’s attempt to placate Washington while projecting closeness to Beijing and Moscow.
In Washington, Trump’s reaction to the SCO summit was swift. Earlier this week, he posted on Truth Social that “India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S.,” echoing his longstanding complaints about the Indo-US trade deficit. On Friday, he escalated his criticism, declaring that the US had “lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China”.
The US president has repeatedly targeted BRICS in his rhetoric. In July, he warned that any country aligning with what he called the bloc’s “anti-American policies” would face an additional 10% tariff. Last month, he dismissed the grouping as a “little group” bent on undermining the dollar, threatening more penalties if members pursued efforts to trade in local currencies.
While there was no public reason given for Modi’s absence from the BRICS, experts say Modi’s move reflects New Delhi’s confused foreign policy: trying to court China and Russia for regional leverage while simultaneously seeking to avoid antagonizing Washington. Analysts warn that this balancing act exposes India’s inconsistent posture on global multilateral forums, projecting opportunism over principled diplomacy.
