Archive · 10 Sep 2026
Ex-Diplomat Warns Trump May Misinterpret BRICS as Anti-West
BRICS is a group that includes countries such as India, China, and Russia.
Some people worry that BRICS could become a group opposed to Western countries.
Former diplomat Ajay Bisaria said India is trying to prevent that from happening.
He described BRICS as non-Western, not anti-Western.
India has important relationships with both Western countries and BRICS members.
Bisaria said this makes India a balancing force.
He worried that the United States might misunderstand BRICS because Donald Trump can react unpredictably.
He said India will continue defending BRICS and its right to maintain partnerships with different countries.
He called this kind of diplomacy a world of multiple overlapping alliances.
Ajay Bisaria said India is steering BRICS toward a non-Western, rather than anti-Western, identity.
He argued India’s ties with Western countries make it a stabilizing influence within the grouping.
Bisaria said the main risk is Washington misinterpreting BRICS because of Donald Trump’s volatility.
He said India would defend BRICS and its policy of strategic autonomy rather than take a defensive stance.
Bisaria described global diplomacy as involving multiple overlapping alliances, including possible cooperation among the United States, China, and Russia.
- Who
- Former diplomat and former high commissioner Ajay Bisaria discussed India’s role in BRICS and how the United States might view it.
- What
- Bisaria said India is preventing BRICS from becoming explicitly anti-Western, while warning that Washington could misinterpret the grouping’s purpose.
- When
- The comments were made while speaking at the India Today BRICS Roundtable; no date was specified.
- Where
- At the India Today BRICS Roundtable.
- Why
- India is balancing its BRICS membership with substantial relationships and interests in Western countries.
India’s Balancing View
Washington’s Potential Concern
BRICS’s relationship with the West
India’s Balancing View
India is guiding BRICS toward a non-Western identity and away from an explicitly anti-Western position.
Washington’s Potential Concern
Some Western governments could interpret BRICS’s growing cooperation as an anti-Western project.
India’s international partnerships
India’s Balancing View
India believes it can maintain relationships with BRICS members and Western countries at the same time as part of its strategic autonomy.
Washington’s Potential Concern
The United States may object when India engages with China and Russia, even though Donald Trump himself engages with their leaders.
Primary danger
India’s Balancing View
India’s presence reduces the likelihood that BRICS will issue a strong anti-Western message.
Washington’s Potential Concern
The greater danger may be Washington misinterpreting BRICS rather than BRICS formally adopting an anti-Western position.
- Speaker
- Ajay Bisaria, a former diplomat and former high commissioner
- Main assessment
- India is changing BRICS’s image from an anti-Western grouping to a non-Western grouping.
- India’s role
- Bisaria described India as a stabilizing influence that keeps BRICS from adopting an anti-Western position.
- Main risk
- The United States could interpret BRICS as anti-Western because of what Bisaria called a volatile White House and Donald Trump.
- India’s response
- India is expected to defend BRICS and its policy of strategic autonomy.
- Global alliances
- Bisaria described a world of multiple overlapping alliances involving countries such as India, China, Russia, and the United States.
- Possible G3
- The article cited discussion of a possible November meeting involving Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin in China.