Congress vs Congress: Shashi Tharoor lists BRICS benefits as Chidambram questions tangible outcomes for India

PTC News Desk: A day after senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the “tangible benefits” India has gained from BRICS, party colleague and MP Shashi Tharoor defended the grouping, saying it demonstrates India’s “diplomatic convening power”.

Speaking ahead of the BRICS Summit in Delhi, Tharoor described BRICS as an important platform for the Global South. He also said hosting the summit was a “matter of prestige” for India and that the event has significant global importance.

"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," Tharoor said highlighting the importance of BRICS.

"It's not a small matter. It's something that has to be taken very seriously by the rest of the world," he added.

However, Tharoor also pointed to challenges facing the grouping, particularly the difficulty of reaching a consensus on major international issues.

He said it was not possible to view BRICS only in terms of its benefits, as member countries often have different positions on global conflicts.

“For example, on an agreed declaration on global issues,” Tharoor said, highlighting the difficulty of finding common ground among the member states.

Tharoor noted that BRICS foreign ministers had failed to reach an agreement on a joint statement on the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He said differences among member countries could become a challenge if the grouping again fails to reach a common position. Such an outcome, he added, could be viewed by some as a setback for BRICS.

Chidambaram questions BRICS outcomes

On Wednesday, former Union minister P Chidambaram questioned the “tangible benefits” India has received from recent BRICS summits.

Chidambaram said he had not seen any significant outcomes from the last two or three meetings.

He also pointed out that India is part of several major multilateral groupings, including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), G20 and QUAD, but questioned what concrete benefits the country has gained from these platforms.