The 'summit on peace in Ukraine' held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, has put out in open differences between the BRICS states and the West as far as their respective approaches to resolving the Ukraine conflict are concerned, Indian experts have told Sputnik India.
"BRICS countries were never with Ukraine and the summit put out in the open the differences between the West and the Global South including BRICS on the issue of support to Ukraine in the ongoing Ukraine-Russian War," said Brigadier V Mahalingam (Retd), a strategic analyst and an author.
Mahalingam also believes that India's signing of the joint communique would have sent a "wrong signal" to Russia as well as countries of Global South.
The Indian veteran described the summit as a "one-sided exercise", the aim of which wasn't peace but "propaganda and narrative creation".
Meanwhile, at the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in Russia on 10 June, the member states reiterated their individual national positions on the Ukraine issue.
All the group's nations backed a "peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy", according to a joint statement.
India's and West's Approaches to Ukraine Crisis Entirely Different: Veteran
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) JS Sodhi, a strategic affairs expert, told Sputnik India that the BRICS states, including India, were "absolutely right" in not endorsing the final outcome of the summit, held under the auspices of Ukrainian 'peace formula', which has already been rejected by Moscow.
Sodhi said that the idea of holding a meeting without Russia's participation was a "useless" one right from the word go and was nothing but a waste of Western taxpayer money.
"India's position right from the beginning has been consistent that war couldn't be a solution in the modern era. India has always advocated for dialogue and diplomacy, whereas the West has adopted a totally 180-degree reasoning. The Zelensky regime, backed by the US, isn't sincere in its intention to resolve the conflict," stated Sodhi.
Among the BRICS states, China refused to attend the Burgenstock summit altogether due to absence of Russia from the meeting. Brazil joined the meeting as an "observer", according to the official list of participants released by the Swiss Federal Council at weekend.
Meanwhile, the other BRICS states – India, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) –refused to endorse the joint communique issued at the end of the meeting. Saudi Arabia, which was one of the six nations invited to join the BRICS at the Johannesburg summit last August, also didn't associate itself with the outcome document.
All of these countries more or less had the same reason – the absence of Russia on the table.
India chose to depute Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) at Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to participate in the event, while South Africa was represented by its National Security Advisor (NSA) Sydney Mufamadi.
From Saudi Arabia and the UAE the Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and presidential advisor Anwar Gargash were present respectively.
Overall, a total of 12 countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico, refused to support the official outcome.