‘Nothing more than a spectacle’: Cong’s Rashid Alvi questions significance of BRICS Summit
New Delhi: Continuing the Congress’s criticism of BRICS, party leader Rashid Alvi on Saturday termed the ongoing Summit as “nothing more than a spectacle” and questioned its significance.
This comes after senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also triggered a row by questioning the tangible economic and strategic benefits India had derived from its participation in BRICS and saying that he had not seen any significant outcomes emerging from the recent meetings of the bloc.
Speaking to IANS, Alvi said: “Over two thousand police personnel and the Border Security Force have been deployed for security. Is this event significant enough to warrant such a massive expenditure of India’s funds? And what will be the outcome of BRICS?”
“I don’t think the BRICS summit will yield any result that benefits India. What advantage will we gain from it? It happens every year; next year it is scheduled to take place in Russia,” he added.
Regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting with the visiting Heads of State, the Congress leader remarked: “It’s not as if he is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin or other Heads of State for the first time. This is a spectacle and nothing more than that.”
However, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had defended the relevance of the BRICS summit, saying the grouping provides an important platform for the Global South and demonstrates India’s diplomatic convening power.
In response, Alvi said: “Everyone has their own opinion; no one has the right to criticise others for it. If someone is praising it, they are doing so based on their own perspective—perhaps believing that BRICS will be beneficial. However, I do not think India will derive any benefit from BRICS.”
He further questioned whether the US or Israel would be condemned during the BRICS Summit for the West Asia conflict. “Our Prime Minister is presiding over this BRICS summit; will he push for a resolution against the US?” he asked.
“Given the humiliation India — and our Prime Minister — has suffered at the hands of the US, this is the time to settle the score. However, I do not think that will happen…Therefore, I do not see it as possible for a resolution to be passed against the US and Israel, unless it is merely a generic statement declaring that war should be avoided and peace should prevail, the kind of resolution that ultimately holds no real substance,” Alvi added.