BRICS should not become anti-West group, India has important role to play: TS Tirumurti

New Delhi [India], October 23 : Former diplomat and international affairs expert TS Tirumurti has said that India has a very important role to play in BRICS and the forum should not become an "anti-West group".
Tirumurti, a former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, told ANI that India has a stabilizing role in a world that is seeing geo-political tensions.
"I think India has a very important role to play in BRICS. And I think BRICS itself has reached a very crucial juncture. It has had its ups and downs, but now we have expanded BRICS and we are also looking at partner countries,. So the role of India becomes even more important. The most important role we can play right now is to make sure that BRICS do not become an anti-west group. It is a non-West group, but it should not become an anti-West group because there are other things playing out in the rest of the world," he said.
"So I think India can play that stabilizing role through its contribution to make sure that, and we have played that role in Ukraine... I think thanks to our digital prowess, and our UPI, I think we have an important role to play," he added.
He praised PM Modi's efforts towards strengthening BRICS.
Tirumurti also said that the western countries should be able to work with BRICS.
PM Modi reached Russia on Tuesday and had bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In his pre-departure statement, PM Modi said that India values the close cooperation within BRICS which has emerged as an important platform for dialogue and discussion on issues concerning the global developmental agenda, reformed multilateralism, climate change, economic cooperation, building resilient supply chains, promoting cultural and people to people connect, among others.
He said expansion of BRICS with the addition of new members last year has added to its inclusivity and agenda for the global good.