New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram has questioned the tangible benefits India has gained from its participation in BRICS, SCO, G20 and QUAD, saying recent BRICS meetings have not produced significant outcomes for the country.
With India preparing to host the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, Chidambaram said he was not convinced that the last two or three BRICS summits had delivered concrete results for India. He also questioned what the country had gained from its participation in several major international groupings.
Chidambaram noted that India is simultaneously part of BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, G20 and QUAD. He argued that while these platforms bring together major global powers, their value should also be assessed through the benefits they deliver to India.
His remarks triggered a response from the BJP, which questioned the Congress leader’s approach to diplomacy. BJP leader Nalin Kohli argued that international diplomacy cannot be viewed only through the lens of immediate or measurable gains.
The BJP also accused Congress of attempting to politicise an important international event and questioned the party’s understanding of India’s diplomatic engagements.
India Takes Charge of BRICS in 2026
India assumed the BRICS Chairship on January 1, 2026, with the theme ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’. The summit is expected to bring together leaders from the expanded BRICS grouping.
The bloc currently includes Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Several partner countries, including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, are also associated with the grouping.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are among the leaders expected to attend.
Together, BRICS members account for nearly half of the world’s population and around 40 per cent of global GDP, underlining the strategic and economic importance of the summit.
