The BRICS group of leading emerging economies should use the recent border dispute between China and India as a catalyst for the creation of a mechanism for conflict resolution between members, a Chinese government adviser said on Monday.

Speaking in Beijing, Zhang Yansheng, chief economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a government think tank, said the months-long stand-off in Doklam highlighted the need for BRICS – Brazil, Russia India, China and South Africa – to find an effective way to handle disputes in the future.

“BRICS is important [to India] because it gives a sense of the gradual multipolarisation of global politics and of India as a key player in it,” said Rajesh Basrur, a South Asia specialist with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

While differences between Beijing and New Delhi “will be papered over” during the meeting, “a serious crack in BRICS could undermine the organisation”, he said.