Tharoor counters Chidambaram on BRICS Summit, says summit reflects India’s ‘diplomatic convening power’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Tharoor counters Chidambaram on BRICS Summit, says summit reflects India’s ‘diplomatic convening power’")
Shashi Tharoor Photograph: (Others)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor backs the BRICS Summit, countering P Chidambaram’s doubts and calling it proof of India’s diplomatic convening power
The political row within the Congress over India hosting the BRICS Summit has taken a new turn, with party MP Shashi Tharoor backing the event and pushing back against colleague P Chidambaram’s questions over its tangible benefits. Chidambaram had on Tuesday questioned the concrete gains India had secured from participating in multilateral groupings such as BRICS. His comments drew strong criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which subsequently questioned the Congress’ broader approach to diplomacy.
Tharoor, however, defended the significance of the BRICS Summit while speaking to news agency PTI on Thursday. “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.” He added: “It's not a small matter; it's something that has to be taken very seriously by the rest of the world.”
The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram also highlighted the diplomatic significance of India hosting the summit, describing it as a “matter of great prestige”. “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,” he said.
What did Chidambaram say about BRICS?
On Wednesday, Chidambaram said India is a member of several major multilateral groupings, including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), G20 and QUAD, but questioned the concrete benefits India had received from them. “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,” he 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.
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BJP attacks Congress over BRICS remarks
The BJP seized on Chidambaram’s remarks to question the Congress’ position on diplomacy. Senior party leader Nalin Kohli compared the opposition party’s approach to that of a "naaraz fufa". “It is a surprise to note the statement of Mr. Chidambaram and the Congress Party, particularly at a time when India is hosting such an important event, the BRICS summit, where many heads of state and heads of government will come, and there will be direct meetings also, one-on-one meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and these leaders,” senior party leader Nalin Kohli said.
“What is the intent of the Congress Party? Is diplomacy to be seen as a transaction, like the Congress Party is projecting? What have I done for you? What will you do for me? Kind of an approach. What is the so-called tangible result? I mean, if we talk of tangible results, we can question what the Congress party's entire approach from 1947 right up to 2014 was on diplomacy. The Congress party certainly raises questions about itself when it asks and points out the so-called tangible results and questions the BRICS summit in Delhi,” he added.
