Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and P Chidambaram spar over BRICS benefits to India

Ahead of the BRICS summit in Delhi, Tharoor said the grouping was a key platform for the Global South and underlined the bloc’s significance.

Updated : Sep 11, 2026, 11:07 AM IST

A day after senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned India’s gains from BRICS, party MP Shashi Tharoor’s praise for the summit has handed the BJP fresh fodder to attack the Grand Old Party.

While Chidambaram questioned the benefits of BRICS on Thursday, Tharoor said hosting the summit was “a matter of huge prestige” for India — a remark the BJP has seized upon to target the Congress.

“Congress exposes Congress! …Congress MP exposes “Naraz Fufa" of Congress who were opposing BRICS on instructions of Rahul Gandhi!" Pradeep Bhandari, national media co-incharge and national spokesperson of BJP, said on X.

“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.

Tharoor also made the case for India’s decision to host the summit, describing the presence of several world leaders in Delhi as a diplomatic asset in itself. “Secondly, of course, 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."

The comments come at a time when India is trying to project itself as a voice for the Global South while also navigating relations with nations that do not necessarily share New Delhi’s stance on major geopolitical questions.

Tharoor, however, made it clear that BRICS has its limitations, particularly when member nations hold starkly different positions on global conflicts.

“Now, that’s not to say there are only benefits; there are challenges, in particular, the fact that it’s difficult to find a convergence of views. For example, on an agreed declaration on global issues."

He pointed to the inability of BRICS foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement on the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a case in point.

“When the foreign ministers met, we ended up with India as chair issuing a chair’s declaration rather than an agreed joint declaration. Will that happen again? It would perhaps be seen by some as a setback and perhaps even as an indication of the group’s fundamental incoherence, or will we be able to paper over the differences? That’s going to be a real challenge for our diplomats."

Tharoor also acknowledged a more direct economic concern—India’s trade imbalance with BRICS countries. “Then there are other practical matters. Trade among the BRICS countries has been growing, but in many ways to our disadvantage. Our exports to the BRICS countries have gone down, while our imports from the BRICS countries have gone up," he said.

Chidambaram on Thursday had raised questions over the outcomes of recent BRICS summits and drew a comparison with other multilateral groupings India is a member of, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, 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 news agency ANI.

“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 added.

Reacting to his remarks, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Thursday took a jibe at the opposition, describing its attitude as “Naraz Fufa”.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader accused the opposition of suffering from a deep sense of “Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO), alleging that the Congress tends to push back against national achievements whenever India’s standing on the global stage grows.

“If you observe the Congress today, seeing that the BRICS Summit is taking place in India, they are opposing it just like that ‘Naraz 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.