‘BRICS has overtaken G7’: Vladimir Putin criticises Western sanctions, praises ‘key partner’ India

“BRICS has overtaken the G7,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, June 4, and praised India as a “key partner” for its leading role in the IT industry.

Highlighting how the share of Western economies had been shrinking, Putin noted that developing nations were playing an important role.

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While addressing the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said, “If you look at the global GDP dynamics of the last five years, you will see that almost half of its annual growth, 49 per cent, is accounted for by BRICS countries, whereas the contribution of the so-called group of seven is estimated at 18 per cent.”

He added, “The share of BRICS and the world GDP based on purchasing power parity stands at 40 per cent, whereas the G7 share is less than 29 per cent. So BRICS has already overtaken the G7, and it did so back in 2020, but this gap is increasing. This gap is expected to grow in favour of BRICS.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin says, “…If you look at the global GDP dynamics of the last five years, you will see that almost half of its annual growth, 49 %, is accounted for by BRICS countries, whereas the contribution of the so-called group of seven is estimated at… pic.twitter.com/Kq8BQvrCZo

— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2026

The Russian President further praised India and said, “Another key partner of ours is India, which is one of the leading players in the IT industry. It accounts for a significant share of the global software market.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin says, “Another key partner of ours is India, which is one of the leading players in the IT industry. It accounts for a significant share of the global software market…”

(Pic Source: Russian Pool via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/lFja4dcDky

— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2026

Meanwhile, Putin on Thursday interacted with heads of leading global news agencies and said the country was determined to broaden its time-tested relations with India, PTI reported.

He further noted that the attempts by the United States to force India into scaling back its cooperation with Russia are both futile and damaging to international relations.

“India is among the world’s major economies and is currently demonstrating an impressive rate of economic growth,” Putin said.

“The US is trying to put pressure on India when it comes to cooperation with Russia on some tracks. But everyone has understood that putting pressure on Narendra Modi (and India) that has the largest population in the world, is detrimental for international relations and for bilateral relations,” he added.

He stated that it “doesn’t matter where this pressure comes from” as “we don’t see any negative consequences.”

“There are no serious repercussions emanating from the state of affairs. We are developing our ties with India and will continue doing that,” he said.