Shashi Tharoor has challenged criticism of BRICS’ effectiveness, emphasising its significance for India’s international standing amid political debates and internal disagreements on its benefits.
Shashi Tharoor has pushed back against criticism of BRICS, saying the grouping remains an important forum for the Global South and a significant stage for India’s diplomacy. His comments came after P Chidambaram, the former finance minister and senior Congress leader, questioned whether recent BRICS meetings had delivered any concrete gains for India. Tharoor said the summit matters not just for its immediate outcomes but also for the prestige that comes with India hosting leaders from major member states.
Chidambaram’s remarks have stirred fresh political debate in the run-up to the Delhi summit. According to reports in The Times of India and NDTV, he said he had seen little evidence that the last two or three BRICS meetings had produced measurable benefits for India, and he extended that scepticism to other multilateral groupings including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the G20 and the Quad. The BJP hit back sharply, accusing the Congress of politicising India’s role in international forums and mocking the criticism as sour grapes over the country’s growing profile.
Tharoor has argued that BRICS should not be dismissed so lightly. He pointed to the bloc’s expanded membership, saying it now includes 11 countries and represents a large share of global output, giving it weight on the world stage. He also said India must be careful not to let BRICS look like an anti-Western alliance, but rather a non-Western platform that reflects the concerns of the developing world while still serving India’s own interests.
Even so, Tharoor acknowledged that the grouping faces real constraints. He has said BRICS members often struggle to agree on major international crises, citing differences over the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and noted that foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May. He also flagged India’s trade deficit with BRICS partners, saying imports from the bloc have risen while exports have fallen. The wider diplomatic symbolism of the summit was underscored by the sight of Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin travelling together by car in New Delhi after bilateral talks, on the way to the venue where the BRICS gathering is due to be held.
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