Chidambaram questions BRICS results, colleague Tharoor praises its diplomatic value

New Delhi (TIP): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday, Sept 11, joined the debate on India’s presidency of the BRICS Summit, saying New Delhi hosting the summit offers significant diplomatic value and an opportunity for India to strengthen its engagement with the Global South. He said the summit also showcases India’s diplomatic convening power and enhances its prestige on the global stage by bringing together global leaders.
The Congress leader’s comments came even as party colleague and former finance minister P Chidambaram questioned whether recent BRICS summits had delivered any “tangible benefits” for the country.
BJP leaders meanwhile seized the moment to attack Congress, saying party MP Tharoor himself exposed what they called Congress propaganda.
Chidambaram had questioned what India was gaining from its membership of BRICS, as well as other multilateral groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, G20 and QUAD.
“I don’t think the last two or three BRICS summits have resulted in tangible benefits or tangible results,” Chidambaram said. “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.”
Responding to a question on the benefits India expects from hosting the summit, Tharoor, who has in recent times taken positions that differ from the Congress line, said BRICS provides an important platform for the Global South.
“First of all, we’re providing an important platform for the Global South,” he said, noting that the 11 BRICS countries represent a majority of the world’s population and 41 per cent of global GDP.
“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, just the 11 BRICS countries, represents a majority of the world’s population and 41 per cent 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 observed. Tharoor also pointed to the diplomatic significance of hosting leaders from BRICS member and observer countries.