India, Sept. 5 -- External affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India at a virtual Brics Summit convened by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next week to discuss US President Donald Trump's trade policy and to rally the leaders of emerging economies.

Brazil is the current chair of the Brics grouping that also includes China, Russia and Iran.

Lula telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to discuss the fallout of Trump imposing 50% tariffs on both countries. At the time, the two leaders pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and energy.

"The Brazilian chair of Brics has called for a virtual meeting on September 8," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly ...