"Nation’s interest should always come first": Minister OP Chaudhary on Chidambaram’s BRICS remarks

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], September 10 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Finance Minister OP Chaudhary on Thursday hit back at Congress leader P Chidambaram’s remarks on the BRICS summit, saying that the nation’s interest should always come first and that political differences should not override national interests.
"The interest of the nation should always come first, but the Congress party engages in politics for its own party's benefit," Chaudhary told ANI.
He further claimed that the Congress's political approach has led to its rejection by people across the country.
"The result of that is that the people across the entire country have rejected the Congress, and Congress has become a sinking ship today," the Chhattisgarh minister said.
His remarks came as preparations are underway in the national capital for the BRICS Summit 2026, with civic and infrastructure agencies stepping up arrangements ahead of the gathering.
On Wednesday, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram questioned the tangible benefits India has gained from recent BRICS summits, saying he had not seen any significant outcomes from the last two or three meetings.
Speaking about the upcoming BRICS Summit 2026 in Delhi, Chidambaram said India is part of several multilateral groupings, including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), G20 and QUAD, but questioned what concrete benefits the country has 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,” Chidambaram told 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.
New Delhi is gearing up to host the BRICS Summit for the fourth time. India’s Chairship of the 18th BRICS Summit is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, deploying a human-centric approach across its core pillars to reinforce institutional strength and support sustainable growth. (ANI)