India at the BRICS summit—Exercise of Strategic Autonomy in difficult circumstances

 

The June 23-24 BRICS summit sends many messages about how India is coping with the global changes that are taking place, at the center of which is the rise of China, the sharp deterioration of US-China ties, the building up of US-Russia confrontation even before the eruption of the Ukraine crisis, but which has now assumed the character of a proxy war by US-led NATO against Russia with consequences that have not been played out fully yet.

The sanctions imposed by the West and Japan on Russia have disrupted the global economy, caused a spike in oil prices, shortages of food and fertilisers, and fueled inflation, which have badly strained the economies of the developing countries, with a blowback on the western economies too. The situation in Afghanistan continues to be parlous. The hopes for progress on restoring the Iran nuclear deal are also being belied.

On top of it, India-China tensions on the border following China’s aggression in Ladakh have not been fully abated, with troops on both sides still massed and some “friction points’ still eluding a resolution.

India has made it clear that relations between the two countries cannot become normal if the situation on the border remains abnormal. India’s China challenge, that it shares with the US, Japan and Australia, has led to a visible strengthening of the Quad framework, with India now describing the Quad as a force for “global good”.

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