China and India on Wednesday called for pragmatic approaches to resolving geopolitical issues, as the United States imposed sanctions on two Iranian companies which it claims had been helping Iran's arms exports.

At a joint news conference of the trade ministers of BRICS nations -- China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa -- China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming said while UN resolutions must be followed, normal economic and trade relations with all countries — including Iran — ought to continue.

"The recent price increases of oil and large commodities have significantly affected the financial recovery and economic development of nations. China has also suffered. If oil prices continue to soar, that will not come as a good sign for any economy, including that of developed countries," Chen said.

Disruptions in tension-plagued areas from South Sudan to Iran pushed Brent crude oil prices up to $125 a barrel on Tuesday, deepening widespread worries of further supply shortages.

The financial institutions of Teheran's trading partners, including China and India, could be banned from US markets if they fail to reduce Iranian oil imports by June.

Chen, in New Delhi, sounded unimpressed. "We are not obliged to follow any domestic laws of other countries. We hope that the domestic laws of nations will not interfere with and affect multilateral global affairs," he said.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma echoed Chen's concerns by saying that the oil price hikes have also put India under stress.

"(The BRICS nations) respect the UN resolutions, and none of our countries are in violation of these resolutions. (But) the same resolutions do not forbid countries from engaging in trade, essential commodities and what is required of trade," Sharma said.

"Iran has been and continues to be one of the important sources of our energy supplies… we look at such matters in a pragmatic manner," he said.

In a sign of deepening cooperation between the emerging economies, the five trade ministers on Wednesday underscored the need to resist what they called "protectionist tendencies" and promote global trade to aid economic recovery.

Fruitful deliberations on virtually "all matters of shared interests and concerns" were made in the meeting with his counterparts, according to Sharma.

The meeting of BRICS trade ministers came a day ahead of a meeting of the group's leaders, who will also oversee the signing of two pacts by their member banks on Thursday.

One of the agreements will extend lines of credit for the member banks to each other, while the other allows one member bank to issue a line of credit to be confirmed by another member bank, said Chen Yuan, governor of China Development Bank.

"Both of these pacts are multilateral-based and aimed at bilateral execution, to truly facilitate trade and investment using our own currencies," he said.

The reporter can be reached at huyinan@chinadaily.com.cn