Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has backed the BRICS Summit being hosted by India, describing the gathering as an important platform for the Global South and a demonstration of the country's diplomatic reach. His comments come days after fellow Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned whether recent BRICS summits had delivered tangible benefits for India.
The exchange has given fresh momentum to a political debate over the value of multilateral forums, with the BJP also targeting the Congress over Chidambaram's remarks.
Tharoor calls summit a diplomatic opportunity
Speaking to PTI on Thursday, Tharoor said India was using the summit to bring together key countries from the Global South.
“First of all, we're providing an important platform for the Global South. You know, the Global South is over 100 countries, but here we have 11 key players from the Global South who collectively represent much of the diversity of views, as well as the range of countries that we are essentially chairing on this particular occasion. This grouping, the 11 BRICS countries, represents a majority of the world's population and 41 per cent of global GDP.”
He added, “It's not a small matter; it's something that has to be taken very seriously by the rest of the world.”
Tharoor, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, also described India's hosting of the summit as a matter of prestige.
“Secondly, of course, having a dozen heads of state and government, not only members of BRICS but also some observers coming at presidential and prime ministerial level, is a matter of great prestige for us. It shows a certain diplomatic convening power, which has value in and of itself on the global stage,” he said.
Chidambaram questions recent BRICS outcomes
Chidambaram had on Wednesday questioned the practical gains India had secured from BRICS and other international groupings.
“I don't know how many Presidents and how many Prime Ministers are coming. I don't think the last two or three BRICS summits have resulted in tangible benefits or tangible results,” he told ANI.
He also pointed to India's membership of BRICS, SCO, G20 and QUAD and asked, “What benefits are we getting out of that?”
BJP attacks Congress over remarks
The BJP criticised Chidambaram's comments and questioned the Congress' approach to diplomacy.
Senior BJP leader Nalin Kohli asked what the party meant by seeking “tangible results” from the summit, while spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress of having "Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO) over India's hosting of the event.
India is a founding member of BRICS and has previously held the chairship in 2012, 2016 and 2021. It assumed the chairship for the fourth time on January 1.
The summit in New Delhi this weekend is expected to discuss several global issues, including the economic impact of the West Asia crisis.