After Congress leader P. Chidambaram questioned the “tangible benefits” of BRICS Summit 2026, his colleague Shashi Tharoor offered a different perspective. He said on Friday that India, which is hosting this year’s BRICS, is 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,” Tharoor told PTI news agency on Friday.
He said that the fact that this group of 11 BRICS countries represents a majority of the world’s population and 41 per cent of global GDP is “not a small matter.”
“It’s not a small matter; it’s something that has to be taken very seriously by the rest of the world,” he said.
Tharoor added that 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,” Shashi Tharoor said.
Tharoor’s remarks differeed from what Chidamabram had opined earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Chidambaram questioned “tangible benefits or tangible results” of the BRICS Summit.
He sparked a controversy when he told ANI, “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.”
“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…,” Chidambaram had said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said India’s BRICS representation should reflect the entire country and not merely the Union government, urging the Centre to include the Opposition in consultations as India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit.
“We, in the Opposition, feel that this is representation of not just the government but the entire India—including Opposition. So, we must be rightly represented. Had they consulted us, it would have been even better. But that is not their policy. But we must make our expectations clear,” he was quoted by ANI As saying.
Following Chidamabaram’s comments, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders questioned the Congress’ approach to diplomacy and likened the opposition’s mindset to “naaraz fufa”.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged the opposition camp is driven by a deep-seated “Fear Of Missing Out” (FOMO). “If you observe the Congress today, seeing that the BRICS Summit is taking place in India, they are opposing it just like that ‘naaraz fufa’. This is because the Congress knows that whenever the country prospers, whenever it involves boosting India’s pride, the Congress party will always oppose it,” he said.
“Senior Congress leaders are beginning to realise that they may never see (Congress MP) Rahul Gandhi become Prime Minister in their lifetime, nor will the Congress ever get the opportunity to host the BRICS Summit. Congress is experiencing FOMO,” he added.
