The 18th BRICS Summit is being held in the country's capital New Delhi from 12 to 13 September. Russian President Vladimir Putin has come to India to participate in the summit, while Chinese President Xi Jinping will come to India on September 12. In this background, different opinions have emerged within the Congress on the importance of BRICS. Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram opined that India has not gained much from the previous BRICS summit, while another senior party leader Shashi Tharoor said that the BRICS summit is an important opportunity to showcase India's diplomacy.
Commenting on the importance of BRICS, Shashi Tharoor said that this group provides an important platform for the Global South. He said that the 11 BRICS countries represent a large population of the world and account for about 41 percent of the world's gross domestic product. Tharoor also said that it is a matter of honor for India because about a dozen countries and heads of government are coming to India for this summit. He said that through this summit, India's diplomatic ability to bring different countries together will come to the fore.
However, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram raised questions on the impact of BRICS. Saying that he did not know how many Presidents and Prime Ministers were coming to the summit, Chidambaram said that the last two-three BRICS summits have not yielded any significant benefits or any significant results. BJP strongly criticized his statement and accused Chidambaram of making statements like someone unhappy with India's progress.
Meanwhile, Tharoor made it clear that there are some challenges before the BRICS summit. Especially, building consensus among member countries on global issues can be a big problem. India had to issue a presidential declaration instead of issuing a joint declaration with consensus in the meeting of Foreign Ministers. Tharoor said that it will be a big challenge for the Indian Ambassador in the upcoming summit to overcome differences and create a consensus.
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