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Ex-PM Advisor Warns India Against Becoming 'Camp Follower' of West

© Photo : MFA RussiaFriends of BRICS foreign ministers' photo taken at the family photo ceremony in Cape Town
Friends of BRICS foreign ministers' photo taken at the family photo ceremony in Cape Town - Sputnik India, 1920, 02.06.2023
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New Delhi officially maintains a policy of strategic autonomy and hasn’t been part of any geopolitical camp since attaining independence in 1947. Nonetheless, India has ramped up defense ties with the US and has concerns about China amid the ongoing Ladakh border dispute.
India faces the “real danger” of becoming a “camp follower” of the west given efforts by the US and its allies to preserve their declining global hegemony, a former prime ministerial advisor told Sputnik.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, an ex-member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and aide to late Indian leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, explained that New Delhi should not fall into the “western trap” and abandon its policy of strategic autonomy that has served it well since independence.

“With the inevitable rise of India and China, the global domination of the West is coming to an end. Fearing this, western powers are trying to lure India into their camp in order to contain China. India must not fall into their trap. We should maintain our strategic autonomy from both the West and China, while espousing the interests of a peaceful and equitable world order,” he said.

He went on to say that the “era of the wWest’seconomic and political domination over the rest of the world is irreversibly over."
Kulkarni likewise described BRICS as the most influential global organization at present, which is focussed on advocating multipolarity in contrast to western hegemony which has been a feature of the post-World War II order, more so after the end of the Cold War.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Quad leaders summit at Kantei Palace, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Tokyo. - Sputnik India, 1920, 01.06.2023
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He said that New Delhi has “always been a friend” to developing nations, first during its leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the Cold War and later as a leading country advocating Global South interests.

“BRICS remains an important platform for promoting India’s foreign policy for the purpose of creating a new world order in the 21st century that is more democratic, equitable and peaceful,” the expert underlined.

The remarks come amid ongoing efforts by the US to include India as a member of ‘NATO plus’, as the alliance eyes to expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific to counter the “systemic challenge” posed by China.
Meanwhile, US defense exports to India have risen to over $18 billion in the last decade. In 2016, the US designated India as a 'Major Defense Partner'.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit New Delhi this month in a bid to further expand bilateral defense cooperation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to pay a state visit to the US on June 22, his first under the Biden administration.

India Must Get ‘More Active’ in BRICS: Expert

Strategic affairs analyst Pravin Sawhney argued that although New Delhi, along with Russia and China, was one of the founding members of the BRICS grouping, it is punching below its weight as far as its role in the multilateral grouping is concerned.

“Although India is one of the founding members of the BRICS, it is viewed as pro-US. India needs to step up its role in BRICS, else its position won’t be liked by China or even perhaps Russia. India needs to get more active in the grouping else its role will diminish,” Sawhney told Sputnik.

Both China and Russia have cautioned that Washington has been trying to enlist New Delhi as an ally to contain Beijing through the US-led Quad grouping.
PM Modi arrives in Hiroshima for 2023 G7 Summit - Sputnik India, 1920, 19.05.2023
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New Delhi has rejected the notion, with Prime Minister Modi calling the Quad a “force for global good." India has firmly rejected that its Quad membership has any military connotation.
While India has ongoing concerns about the military dispute with China in the eastern Ladakh region, it has maintained that it would like the matter to be resolved bilaterally with Beijing.

BRICS' Growing Appeal Due to Economic Reasons

Sawhney described BRICS as an “important institution” in the current world order, which has been in a state of flux due to the declining global influence of the West and the economic rise of China.

“It is a unique institution which comprises a major oil-exporting state (Russia) and well as the two of the biggest oil-importing countries (China and India),” Sawhney explained.

Sawhney reckoned that BRICS’ rising appeal among low and middle-income states was largely due to economic reasons.
“The reason why so many countries are showing interest in joining the BRICS is because of the New Development Bank (NDB). It is being viewed as promoting an alternate way of doing business by bypassing the US dollar,” he said.
In fact, the BRICS’ joint statement has underscored the “importance of encouraging” the use of local currencies in trade settlements and international transactions.
As per the NDB, it has managed to get funding approval worth over $32 billion for nearly 96 projects to date.
At least 19 countries have expressed an interest in joining the BRICS grouping, a subject which has been discussed at the BRICS’ foreign ministers meeting in Cape Town.
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