Global power dynamics are in turmoil! Trump's "America First" policy is pushing for closer ties with China, Russia, and India to reduce their dependence on the United States.

Donald Trump's "America First" policy is pushing other major powers to diversify their risks as the leaders of China, Russia, and India prepare to meet at the BRICS summit amid pressures over trade, energy, and sanctions.

On September 12, 2026, CNBC reported that when Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in China last year, images of the three leaders smiling, shaking hands, and engaging in lively conversation became a viral sensation.

This weekend, they will meet again in New Delhi amidst increasingly complex geopolitical conditions.

India is hosting the BRICS leaders, a group of large emerging economies seeking greater influence in a global system long dominated by the United States and other Western nations. Xi Jinping, Putin, and Iranian President Masoud Peseshkyan are among the leaders expected to attend, along with Modi.

The United States and Israel are at war with Iran, while Washington continues to pressure Moscow to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine, and U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies have strained relations with both allies and rivals.

Amidst these circumstances, this summit will focus on whether these pressures are giving some BRICS member states more reason to cooperate on trade, energy, and payments, even though deep divisions limit how far such cooperation can go.

Trump's policies are not the reason these countries are discussing this. India and Russia have maintained close relations for decades, while the easing of tensions between India and China began before the latest trade conflict with the U.S. But tariffs, sanctions, and other economic pressure from Washington are becoming another factor in their calculations.

Complex relationships

Xi Jinping's visit to India will be his first since 2019 and is seen as another step in cautiously easing relations following the violent clashes that left fatalities along the disputed Himalayan border between the two countries in 2020.

Modi and Xi Jinping have attempted to stabilize relations, with flights, visas, and high-level contacts reinstated, but tensions remain over border issues, India's large trade deficit with China, and strategic competition across Asia.

The United States itself has spent years strengthening its relationship with India, a member of the Quad group along with the United States, Japan, and Australia.

India has long pursued a policy of strategic independence, maintaining relations with Russia and Iran, improving ties with China, while simultaneously increasing cooperation with Washington.

Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior researcher on South Asia at Chatham House, wrote that recent tensions with the Trump administration have caused New Delhi to increasingly focus on other relationships.

Bajpaee said the meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping is likely to further advance the ongoing improvement of bilateral relations and build trust, noting that the meeting between the Chinese Foreign Minister and India's National Security Advisor in August marked significant progress on a long-standing border dispute.

While Russia has different motivations, Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine have made its non-European allies and the US more important. China has become a key economic partner, while India is a major buyer of Russian oil.

For Putin, deeper economic ties with China and India provide a crucial shield against sanctions, while the summit is an opportunity to demonstrate that Russia continues to maintain relations with some of the world's largest economies.

Pressure from Trump

Trump has made tariffs central to his economic and foreign policy agenda, as Washington continues to impose sanctions and other economic measures on Russia and Iran.

For BRICS members, the use of these tools has led to increased interest in alternative channels for trade and payment.

The BRICS group discussed increasing trade in local currencies and developing alternative cross-border payment mechanisms. India attempted to guide BRICS away from a broad push for deutilization of the dollar, emphasizing the use of individual national currencies and digital payments to reduce cross-border trade costs, according to Bajpaee.

Russia is increasingly trading outside the dollar, even though the Kremlin said this week that Moscow does not intend to “completely reduce its use of the dollar.”

Trump had previously called BRICS a “dollar attack” and threatened to tax members if they tried to undermine the U.S. currency.

However, BRICS members disagree on the extent to which they want to reduce their dependence on the dollar, which remains the primary currency for global reserves and international transactions.

"Families with problems"

The BRICS alliance has expanded from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to include countries such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. This has increased their economic and geopolitical influence, but it has also made achieving consensus more difficult.

Sarang Shidore, director of the Quincy Institute's Global South program, called BRICS a “troubled family.”

He told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday that the differences among members are "most evident" on security issues, pointing out that Iran and the United Arab Emirates are both members, albeit on opposing sides in the Middle East conflict.

Shidore stated that BRICS is a “practical group with limited objectives,” where members prioritize global development, trade, and institutional reform over building an ideologically anti-U.S. bloc.

Bajpaee similarly argued that India wants BRICS to promote a non-Western perspective without becoming an overtly anti-Western bloc, even if some member states are pushing for a more geopolitical direction.

India's desire to strengthen ties with the United States highlights an overlapping relationship that complicates the idea that BRICS is becoming an anti-US alliance.

Other BRICS members, including the UAE, maintain important ties with Washington while simultaneously diversifying their economic relationships. The UAE recently pledged $4.6 billion in investment in Germany across various sectors.

Xi Jinping is scheduled to travel to the United States later this month.

Bajpaee said that members still value BRICS despite differing visions of the group's role, pointing out that the meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping at the 2024 summit would help initiate the normalization of relations between India and China.

As Xi Jinping, Putin, and Modi meet again in New Delhi, the question is whether tariffs, sanctions, and other economic pressures from the United States will once again catalyst for change at this summit.

Reference: cnbc.com

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