India and Russia have played a crucial role in making BRICS more inclusive and a representative of the Global South, an international affairs expert has said.
The comments of Niranjan Marjani, a political analyst and researcher at the Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies (KIIPS), came hours after Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar underlined Moscow's significance in a multipolar world, during his interactions with President Vladimir Putin and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
"Alongside India, Russia is an important player in promoting and protecting the interests of the Global South as well as giving it a voice," Marjani told Sputnik India on Thursday.
BRICS Image Rising in Global South
According to him, there was no doubt that BRICS was emerging as one of the main organisations featuring a number of countries from the Global South.
"In fact, India and Russia have been instrumental in making the BRICS more inclusive and kind of a representative of the Global South," Marjani stressed.
For the uninitiated, in July, the powerful economic grouping - BRICS, Which originally had Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as members, expanded to an eleven-country bloc.
Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates will join the forum on 1 January 2024.
The Gujarat-based geopolitical pundit also noted that the significance of Dr. Jaishankar's visit to Russia was to strengthen and take the bilateral relationship with Moscow forward.
Moreover, he mentioned that the timing of his visit was very important, particularly in the backdrop of the events happening across the world.
The Unique Nature of the India-Russia Friendship
He pointed out that one of the main messages of Jaishankar's visit to Russia was that India will continue to play a balancing role in global geopolitics keeping its national interest in mind.
"The one thing about the India-Russia relationship is that even the best of friends don't agree on everything. They do have differences, but the maturity of the friendship lies in working around those differences, and India and Russia have been displaying this maturity," Marjani asserted.
"If I may just have to give an example - the two countries have different views on the geostrategic concept of the Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific as Russia calls it," he added.
Despite having different visions of the geographical area, New Delhi and Moscow are cooperating in the region. For instance, they regularly conduct military exercises and are also working on a connectivity corridor from Vladivostok to Chennai, Marjani summed up.