A day after senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram questioned the concrete benefits India has gained from recent BRICS summits, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor defended the importance of the grouping while also highlighting several challenges it faces.
Tharoor said hosting the BRICS Summit in India demonstrates the country’s diplomatic strength and international standing. He noted that prominent leaders from member and observer countries are travelling to India, calling their participation a significant achievement.
Tharoor: BRICS important platform for Global South
Tharoor described BRICS as an important platform for the Global South, pointing out that more than 100 countries are part of the broader grouping of developing nations.
He said the 11 major countries currently in BRICS represent a significant share of the global population and around 41% of the world’s GDP. Given its demographic and economic weight, he said BRICS cannot be ignored.
However, Tharoor also listed five major challenges facing the grouping.
5 challenges facing BRICS
1. Differences among members Tharoor said BRICS members do not have identical foreign policies or interests, making it difficult to reach consensus on major international issues.
2. Iran-Israel and Russia-Ukraine conflicts Differences over these conflicts surfaced during the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in May. The member countries could not agree on a joint statement.
3. India issued Chair’s Declaration In the absence of a joint statement, India issued a Chair’s Declaration in its capacity as the BRICS chair.
4. Unity could be tested at upcoming summit Tharoor said another failure to reach consensus on major global issues could raise questions about BRICS’ unity and create a diplomatic challenge for India.
5. Trade deficit remains a concern India’s exports to BRICS countries are lower than its imports from them. This means India buys more goods from BRICS nations than it sells to them.
Chidambaram had asked: “What has India actually gained?”
Before Tharoor’s remarks, Chidambaram had questioned the tangible gains India had made from its participation in BRICS.
He pointed out that India is also part of other major multilateral groupings, including the G20, QUAD and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Chidambaram said there should be a serious assessment of what concrete benefits India has actually received from these organisations.
BJP targets Congress over contrasting views
The BJP seized on the differing remarks by the two Congress leaders.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari described Tharoor’s assessment as contradictory to Chidambaram’s comments and accused the Congress of having differing views on BRICS.
In a post on X, Bhandari said Tharoor’s description of the BRICS Summit as a matter of great prestige for India showed that there were different opinions within the Congress.
The BJP used the contrasting statements to attack the Congress and question the party’s position on India’s engagement with BRICS.
