A political controversy has arisen surrounding the BRICS Summit, which is scheduled to start on Friday evening. Congress MP P. Chidambaram has raised questions about the concrete benefits India has derived from such gatherings, while the BJP has criticised the opposition party’s stance on diplomacy.
As the BRICS Chair for 2026, India will host the 18th summit at Bharat Mandapam through Sunday under the theme ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’.
On Wednesday, Chidambaram noted that India belongs to multiple multilateral forums, including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the G20 and the QUAD, yet questioned what tangible gains the country has obtained 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.
In response, the BJP compared the opposition’s outlook to that of a “naaraz fufa.” Senior party leader Nalin Kohli also questioned the Congress’s handling of diplomacy.
“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,” he 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.
The Congress party has much to answer, Kohli said. “By Mr Chidambaram’s strange logic, we don’t see any benefit. Tomorrow, if somebody says that they see no benefit from the Congress party, will the Congress party then shut down? So I think Mr. Chidambaram is trying to make a political point when none exists, and this is just another attempt by the Congress party to somehow criticize anything and everything that PM Modi’s government does, even when there is no merit or any reason to criticise it,” he said.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that the opposition is motivated by a strong sense of “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.
India, a founding member of BRICS, previously chaired the group in 2012, 2016 and 2021. It took on its fourth chairship on 1 January, as the grouping marked 20 years since its formation. This weekend’s summit is expected to focus extensively on several urgent global issues, among them the economic fallout from the West Asia crisis.
