President Trump’s US-centred stance will push South Asia and the Global South to reorient their geopolitical positions.
Retired Indian Navy captain Dr Gurpreet S Khurana, a former executive director of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), told Sputnik that the BRICS group was the most viable alternative as a multi-polar framework, particularly for ‘de-dollarisation’.
It is also a counterweight to the Group of Seven (G7), the former executive director of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) added.
The reality is that re-orientation by the Global South/South Asia will be severely constrained by the fact the US wields considerable comprehensive power as substantive leverage, the pundit stressed.
“President Trump knows this very well, which is encouraging him to use this leverage in a manner," Khurana argued. "It may be unprecedented, but it is the personality of President Trump that the world is compelled to accept, and states seem to have no alternative options.”
Dr Sasmit Patra, a member of India's upper house of parliament, told Sputnik that Trump's flurry of executive orders on his first day in office was expected, but each has significant implications for global dynamics.
"As far as India is concerned, the current US administration poses no threat to our community in the United States or to our relations with the nation," Patra said.
But Trump’s policies are mainly focussed on combatting unemployment and illegal immigration from to neighbouring countries.
If Donald Trump pressures South Asian allies to align with his policies, he will likely do the same with the entire BRICS apparatus. So is overly simplistic to suggest that those currently reliant on US aid could turn to BRICS as a full alternative, Waqar Rizvi, a Canadian-Pakistani geopolitical analyst told Sputnik.
“Trump may cut substantial funding anyway, driven by his domestic political needs and 'America First' priorities," Rizvi said.
"With this president, traditional US foreign policymaking is discarded, making the latter scenario a real possibility — never say never,” Rizvi argued.