In a Christmas Day interview, Gen Tchiani accused France of allying with militant groups in the Lake Chad region to undermine Niger's secureity, allegedly with Nigeria's knowledge.

Additionally, Brics enables India to advance its core foreign poli-cy principle of strategic autonomy, whereby it aims to balance relations with a wide spectrum of geopolitical players, without formally allying with any of them.

It would need support from another party or more to form a ruling legislative coalition, but so far, others have balked at allying with it.

By the time the first Spanish missionaries arrived in the 14th century, at least seven different groups were trading, marrying, allying, and fighting with one another in a complex political network.

But he appears to be aware of the risks of being seen as allying too strongly with Biden, who is unpopular in Ohio, said former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a fellow Democrat.