A day after senior Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the “tangible benefits” India had gained from recent BRICS summits, party MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday offered a different assessment, saying the grouping demonstrated India’s diplomatic reach and provided an important platform for the Global South.Tharoor said bringing together leaders from a grouping representing a majority of the world’s population and accounting for around 41 per cent of global GDP was significant.He said hosting several heads of state and government was also a matter of prestige for India and reflected its ability to bring diverse countries together on a common platform.Tharoor, however, acknowledged the limitations of BRICS, particularly the difficulty in forging consensus among members on major international conflicts.He pointed to the failure of BRICS foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement on the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying another failure to reach common ground could be viewed as a setback. His remarks came after Chidambaram on Wednesday questioned what India had gained from recent BRICS meetings.“I don’t think the last two or three BRICS summits have resulted in tangible benefits or tangible results,” Chidambaram had said, also questioning the gains from India’s participation in groupings such as the SCO, G20 and Quad.Former External Affairs Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid, meanwhile, called for the Opposition to be involved in consultations surrounding the summit, arguing that India’s representation at BRICS should reflect the country as a whole and not merely the central government.