U.S. President Donald Trump’s targeted attacks on the world’s three major emerging economies have prompted their leaders to forge closer ties and resist his aggressive trade policies.
Leaders from India, Brazil and South Africa met in Johannesburg on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 summit to put greater emphasis on the trilateral organization, known as the IBSA forum. It is the first time in more than a decade that world leaders have come together under the auspices of the organization, although foreign ministers have done so regularly for years.
Trump upended decades of cautious foreign policy by Washington to cultivate relations with three major emerging markets. He imposed high tariffs on them and publicly denounced leaders for their domestic policies. The US president has snubbed this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, a blow to South Africa and other developing countries working to curb global inequality.
“Our organization affirms that diversity is not a fault line but a source of strength,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his opening address at the IBSA conference. “We must position ourselves as co-builders of a more representative and responsive multilateral system.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence from the summit — his second absence from the G20 forum — may also provide an opportunity for the three leaders to reinvigorate the trilateral organization. Normally, Xi would join Modi, Ramaphosa and Lula as part of the BRICS group alongside Russia, whose leader Vladimir Putin has not participated in the G20 for years.
Xi Jinping often plays a leading role in forums such as the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which he cultivates as a counterweight to the U.S.-led world order. He is also one of the few politicians to successfully resist Trump’s tariffs this year.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment made outside business hours.
Video | Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) attended the IBSA Leadership Conference in South Africa.
IBSA – a trilateral forum consisting of India, Brazil and South Africa – focuses on South-South cooperation, global governance reform and strengthening cooperation… pic.twitter.com/WGFxk3JzaX— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 23, 2025
However, the BRICS has been dominated by the agenda of China and Russia, and its membership has grown rapidly over the years to include countries such as Iran and Ethiopia in addition to its five founding members.
The smaller IBSA group enables the three leaders to coordinate steps in a smaller forum, resulting in faster policy implementation.
Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former envoy to the United Nations and now a professor at the Kautilya School of Public Policy, said: “South Africa was previously happy to include IBSA under the umbrella of BRICS and is now considering creating a more coherent organization.”
South Africa has proposed resuming the IBSA leaders’ meeting during the G20 summit, arguing that the smaller group will be more flexible in decision-making on trade, market access and investment, according to people familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.
Ben Joubert, a South African foreign affairs official, said in the trilateral grouping “it is easy to reach consensus and make progress on issues that are important to us.”
“The geoeconomic and geopolitical challenges we face in the world are driving the need for better coordination and for IBSA to differentiate itself,” he said in an interview in Johannesburg on Sunday. “We will do everything we can to announce and promote our cooperation.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it was important for IBSA to have a different agenda than the BRICS.
“I believe that if IBSA insists on repeating the BRICS agenda, we will continue to be in its shadow,” Lula said on Sunday. “I think we have some homework to do at the end of this meeting: start thinking deeply about IBSA’s future path, with an eye on our next summit.”
Trump’s tariffs
The IBSA Forum last hosted a leadership meeting in South Africa in 2011. The three-country organization was established in 2003 to coordinate global governance issues and promote South-South cooperation, including through joint funding of development projects.
“We all agree that global institutions do not reflect the reality of the 21st century,” Modi said on Sunday. He called the summit between South Africa, Brazil and India “historic and timely”.
Trump has punished India’s relationship with Russia by imposing 50% tariffs on goods shipped to the United States. angered New Delhi has repeatedly claimed to have brokered a ceasefire with Pakistan. In South Africa, Trump resist G20 summit and false accusations of genocide against the country’s white farmers.
The U.S. president also imposed steep tariffs on Brazil, forcing the country to abandon the trial of his friend and former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of plotting a coup against Lula. brazilian leader counterattack Trump then moved to exempt many goods from tariffs, handing the Brazilian leader a victory.
The revival of the IBSA forum shows that Trump’s actions are pushing developing countries to consider economic integration on their own.
The Johannesburg meeting is not expected to produce major results but will mark a renewed collaboration among emerging economies.
Veda Vaidyanathan, a researcher at the Center for Social and Economic Progress, an independent think tank based in New Delhi, said India’s participation in IBSA and the G-20 is of “significant significance” as countries try to “reduce and diversify supply chain risks”.