Can your pension follow you across borders? Is India moving closer to cross border retirement benefits?

Source: Business Today | Original Published At: 2026-06-26 03:40:01 UTC

Key Points

• India hosted a high-level BRICS workshop on labour mobility, population ageing and pension resilience under its BRICS Presidency 2026.
• The virtual workshop brought together pension regulators, financial supervisors and policymakers from BRICS countries to discuss retirement savings protection.
• Discussions covered Social Security Agreements, pension benefit portability, totalisation of contribution periods, and interoperable pension databases.
• India has signed Social Security Agreements with over 20 countries including Brazil, but pension portability remains limited globally due to different regulatory frameworks.
• The workshop focused on developing resilient pension systems addressing rising life expectancy, changing employment patterns and increasing international labour mobility.
• Participants explored digital infrastructure and institutional cooperation to simplify cross-border pension administration.
• No new cross-border pension framework was announced, but the workshop underscored growing BRICS interest in expanding cooperation on retirement security.