Shashi Tharoor Defends BRICS Summit, Says It Reflects India’s Diplomatic Clout

The political debate within the Congress over the BRICS Summit has intensified after party MP Shashi Tharoor defended the event, describing it as a demonstration of India’s “diplomatic convening power”.

Tharoor’s remarks came days after Congress MP P Chidambaram questioned the tangible benefits India had gained from participating in BRICS and other multilateral groupings.

Speaking to news agency PTI on Thursday, Tharoor said India was providing an important platform for the Global South by hosting the BRICS Summit.

“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,” he said.

Tharoor noted that the 11 BRICS countries collectively account for a majority of the world’s population and 41% of global GDP.

“It’s not a small matter; it’s something that has to be taken very seriously by the rest of the world,” he added.

The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram also described India’s hosting of the summit as a “matter of great prestige”.

“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,” Tharoor said.

He added that the presence of several global leaders demonstrated India’s ability to bring countries together on an international platform.

“It shows a certain diplomatic convening power, which has value in and of itself on the global stage,” he said.

18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi

The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled to take place at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi over the weekend. This year’s summit is being held under the theme, “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

The summit is expected to bring together leaders from BRICS member countries as well as observers and partner nations.

What Did P Chidambaram Say?

Chidambaram had on Wednesday questioned the concrete gains India had secured from its participation in BRICS and other international groupings, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), G20 and QUAD.

“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,” Chidambaram told ANI.

He said India was part of several major multilateral organisations but questioned what practical benefits they had delivered.

“In fact, we are part of BRICS, we are part of SCO, we are part of G20, and we are part of QUAD. What benefits are we getting out of that? I can’t see. In the last two or three summits, I didn’t see any benefits. Earlier, the BRICS Summits resulted in some tangible benefits,” he said.

Chidambaram’s comments drew criticism from the BJP, which questioned the Congress’ position on India’s diplomatic engagement.

Tharoor’s contrasting remarks have now added a fresh dimension to the political debate, with the Congress leaders offering different assessments of the significance and benefits of India’s BRICS engagement.