Trump has become the biggest salesman of BRICS, says FT’s Martin Wolf

US President Donald Trump’s policies have inadvertently pushed BRICS countries towards closer cooperation, according to Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times (FT).

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 ahead of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Wolf said Trump’s approach had created widespread uncertainty and forced countries to respond to the instability around them.

“Donald Trump is a figure who generates chaos. There's no other word,” Wolf said, describing uncertainty around the US President’s policies as a “ridiculous understatement”.

Wolf said the same dynamic was visible in Europe, where countries have also been responding to Trump’s approach. He said countries across the world have had to deal with and respond to the uncertainty created by the US President.

“Of course, it differs for different countries depending on their relationship with the US, their own power and capacity to inflict pain on the US, which China has shown it has in very large measure,” he said.

The BRICS grouping includes some of the world’s most important economies, according to Wolf. He described China as a “genuine superpower”, India as the world’s most populous country and the fastest-growing large economy, with the potential to become a superpower, and Russia as one of the two biggest nuclear powers in the world.

However, Wolf cautioned that the importance of the grouping does not automatically mean it can act as a coherent bloc.

“There are obviously two questions about this. First, how coherent is this grouping?” he said, pointing to historical tensions among its members, particularly between India and China.

Wolf also questioned how much BRICS can achieve on its own, noting that countries outside the grouping remain crucial to the global economy, world trade and the future of currencies.

On the upcoming summit, Wolf said he remained sceptical about whether the meeting would make a major difference to the world, but welcomed the fact that the leaders were meeting and talking.

“I start off with some degree of scepticism, but I'm very happy they're meeting and talking, and I hope they come up with good, productive proposals and decisions that make the world a better place,” he said.

India is set to host the 18th BRICS Summit from September 12, marking two decades of the grouping. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold key meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to attend the summit.

Watch accompanying video for full conversation.