by Xinhua writer Hu Xiaoming
NEW DELHI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS mechanism provides a platform for developing countries to voice their concerns and aspirations, an Indian expert has said.
The BRICS summit this year will be an important event in the calendar of 2022 as far as interactions in multilateral relations are concerned, Sudheendra Kulkarni, former chairman of the Mumbai-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
"As regards the future of BRICS, the leaders of BRICS countries should seriously apply their minds on how to make it more effective," he said.
In view of the growing economic and political importance of several new emerging markets and developing countries in the rapidly changing world environment, Kulkarni said their potential to contribute to the cause of regional and world peace cannot be ignored.
Including them in the BRICS Plus mechanism will make the platform "more representative," he added.
"The ideas presented by China, namely the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative ... are of immense benefit to the international community," he said.
Amid the current rapidly evolving international landscape and the COVID-19 pandemic, Kulkarni said BRICS countries must adopt an action-oriented plan to stabilize the global economic situation, accelerate the recovery of the global economy, and forcefully bring back the agenda of equitable development to the center stage of global politics.
When the crisis is of a global nature, the response to it also has to be in the form of global cooperation, he stressed.
The united action by BRICS countries and other emerging economies can certainly help revive the global economy after the COVID-related slowdown it has suffered, Kulkarni said.
BRICS and other emerging economies should also increase dialogue and cooperation on geopolitical conflicts, he added. ■
