Ex-Diplomat Warns US May Misread BRICS Summit as Anti-Western

Source: India Today | Original Published At: 2026-09-10 05:57:19 UTC

Key Points

• BRICS nations are meeting in New Delhi for the 18th Summit, with India seeking to present the grouping as non-Western rather than anti-Western.
• Former diplomat Ajay Bisaria said there is a small risk that the US may misinterpret the summit as anti-Western due to President Donald Trump's stance and China-Russia engagement in BRICS.
• Bisaria said India opposes attempts to make BRICS an explicitly anti-Western platform and will defend strategic autonomy and the grouping.
• Geopolitical analyst Ashok Malik said BRICS has long faced competing visions: one economic and developmental, and another more geopolitical.
• Malik said India has backed the economic approach, while Russia and China have at times pushed BRICS toward a stronger geopolitical identity.
• He said expanded membership, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, makes a single geopolitical position harder to achieve.
• The experts said BRICS should focus on areas of common ground such as economic cooperation, supply chains, development, climate change and resilience.