BRICS yet to broker peace between India and China: Shakti Sinha

Even as India readies to host BRICS summit in October, Shakti Sinha, a former bureaucrat, on Friday cast doubts on whether the grouping will lead the global way in the backdrop of tension between India and China.

"While many talk about the success of BRICS, it is a fact that it has not been able to resolve the tension between two of its countries — India and China. This (tension) still exists, even though it has managed to bring both the countries on a common platform," Sinha, who was a Joint Secretary in the PMO in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said.

He was speaking at a seminar on 'BRICS-upon-BRICS for a stronger BRICS-Challenges and Opportunities'.

Sinha, who took voluntary retirement, said despite its failure to broker peace between China and India, BRICS, along with G-7, needs to be looked at "as a strong substance or component of emerging G-20 which will navigate the world".

He said BRICS plays a pivotal role as "no country can alone respond to impacts of globalisation".

Sinha expressed his doubts whether BRICS platform will lead the global way in the future. "I am little sceptical about this considering the fact that tension between India and China still continues and will continue," he said.

The former bureaucrat, however, said, "The summit could bring in reforms in sectors like e-commerce, agriculture and climate change.