Explained: Why you can’t put BRICS in the anti-West box

Explained: Why you can't put BRICS in the anti-West box There are a range of national intends within the grouping: Accommodation with the West, autonomy from it, parity within it or direct confrontation.

What happened

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New Delhi, Friday. (ANI).

As it presides over the BRICS summit in Delhi Saturday, India's challenge is two-fold: to convey the forum's shared objective of democratizing the international system and to dispel the widespread impression that it seeks to overthrow the US-led order.

Notably, the forum's champions and detractors alike view it through an anti-Western lens. Its supporters celebrate BRICS as a vehicle for resisting Western dominance; its critics warn that it is becoming a counter-bloc led by China and Russia. Both readings are simplistic. The BRICS members differ over whether their national aim is accommodation with the West, autonomy from it, parity within it, or direct confrontation.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around explained: Why you can't put BRICS in the anti point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.