India is committed to ensuring that the BRICS grouping does not evolve into an anti-Western alliance, but a "very volatile" Donald Trump could potentially misinterpret its intentions, according to former Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria. Speaking at the India Today BRICS Roundtable, Bisaria emphasized India's strategic autonomy and its significant interests in the West as driving factors for its balanced approach within the bloc.
Bisaria noted that while some past inclinations within BRICS had pushed for an anti-Western stance, such a direction does not align with India's foreign policy objectives. "That doesn't suit India. And India doesn't push it in that direction. On the contrary, India balances it a little more," he stated, highlighting India's successful efforts to rebrand BRICS as a "non-Western grouping" rather than an "anti-Western grouping."
The former diplomat suggested that Western governments should view India's active role in BRICS as a stabilizing influence rather than a potential threat. He remarked that if he were advising leaders in Washington or Brussels, he would underscore India's crucial role in preventing the group from adopting an adversarial position against the West, given India's substantial "equities in the West."
Bisaria clarified that the primary concern isn't BRICS itself becoming strongly anti-Western, but rather the risk of misinterpretation, particularly by a future US administration. "So I would say this is not a huge risk of a very strong anti-West message coming out of this BRICS. But the small danger is of the US misinterpreting it that way because of a very volatile White House and a very volatile Trump," he explained.
India is unlikely to adopt a defensive posture on this matter. Bisaria affirmed that India would remain proactive, taking a "front foot" approach to defending its strategic autonomy and its engagement with BRICS, while acknowledging the persistent, albeit small, danger of misinterpretation.
Addressing questions about Trump's willingness to engage with leaders like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin while potentially objecting to India doing the same, Bisaria attributed this to the "whimsical nature" of the former US President. He also pointed to increasing engagements between the US, China, and Russia, including discussions on the Ukraine war and an upcoming AI summit, with talks of a potential G3 meeting involving Trump, Xi, and Putin in November.
In response to such developments, India should assert its own partnerships. Bisaria suggested India's response should be, "oh, here's the G3 as well, which is China, Russia, and India. This is a world of multiple promiscuous alliances. Please don't mind it," underscoring the complex, multi-polar nature of current global diplomacy.