India batting for Global South interests without turning BRICS anti-West: Report

Canberra, Sep 11 (IANS) India wants BRICS to advocate the interests of the Global South without turning the grouping anti-West, a report has highlighted.

“China’s President Xi Jinping is now confirmed to arrive in New Delhi this weekend for the first time in seven years, reportedly accompanied by a delegation of around 400 officials. The will-he/won’t-he question of whether Xi would ultimately attend the talks drove local media into a frenzy, but attention will also turn to the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit hosted by India, and to the many bilateral meetings, including with Iran, on the sidelines,” a report in Australia-based ‘The Interpreter’ detailed.

“Images of Xi, Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi together in the national capital are likely to spark commentary that India is drifting away from the West, amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff pressure and growing uncertainty about US policy,” the report stated.

Quoting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, it said, India is “non-Western, not anti-Western”.

The report noted that India views itself as a reformist power rather than a revisionist one, pushing for a greater role in global governance, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and more influence over financial and technological rulemaking. It seeks to alter parts of the international order while preserving a system that has been central to its own rise.

“India’s turn as BRICS chair reflects that approach. This year’s discussions on food security, emerging technologies and trade have focused more on strengthening existing institutions than replacing them. At a time when US tariff policies have heightened economic volatility, BRICS trade ministers have called for the multilateral trading order to be preserved and revitalized,” The Interpreter mentioned.

“BRICS is also where India’s balancing act faces its toughest test. It remains contested terrain. The expansion of the grouping, resisted by both India and Brazil, has made consensus harder. Beneath the larger membership lies a familiar divide: India and Brazil largely see BRICS as an economic platform, while China and Russia see it as a geopolitical one,” it added.

According to the report, India, as chair, has sought to maintain a clear distinction between the two tracks while accommodating differences within the grouping.

The tension was evident in May, when BRICS foreign ministers failed to reach agreement on a joint declaration. Rather than forcing a common line, India acknowledged the differences through a chair’s statement and ensured the grouping moved forward, it highlighted.

Highlighting India’s role in maintaining balance within BRICS, the report said, “A BRICS that remains a coalition seeking greater voice for non-Western states may be an irritant but something the West could live with. A BRICS organised around Chinese preferences would be something else entirely. India remains the most important country capable of preventing that outcome.”

–IANS

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