Moscow, May 28 (IANS): Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that there was no plan to turn the BRICS grouping into a military alliance.

The group is "driven by clearly understood national interests" and the desire to "implement these interests through joint actions," Ryabkov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television channel, adding that the BRICS member states are not trying to pursue political development with the mechanism.

He also criticised the West for its desire to hold on to the controlling position in the global economy, saying that "BRICS is a symbol of a multipolar world, and the West just cannot put up with emerging alternatives", according to Xinhua.

BRICS, which gathers the world's five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has become an important platform for dialogue and cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries.

Russia holds the rotating chair of BRICS in 2015, and a summit has been scheduled for July 8-9 in Ufa, capital of Russia's Bashkortostan republic.