Opposition Questions BRICS Outcomes as Congress Targets All-Veg Menu
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav says the BRICS summit produced no significant outcome on global wars, as Congress criticises the all-vegetarian menu.
Opposition parties have trained their fire on the recently concluded BRICS summit, with the Samajwadi Party questioning its outcomes and the Congress taking exception to the all-vegetarian menu served to visiting dignitaries.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said the gathering had failed to deliver anything of consequence. In his view, the summit could have been far more productive had the member nations joined forces to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end or to nudge the parties involved in the conflict concerning Iran.
Yadav stressed that these conflicts are not confined to their immediate regions. Their effects are being felt worldwide, he said, with economies suffering and no part of the globe able to insulate itself from the fallout.
His remarks came as the 11-member grouping adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026, which voiced serious concern over the escalating situation in the Middle East. The declaration urged maximum restraint, dialogue and diplomacy, called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and underlined the need to keep global trade, supply chains and energy flows undisturbed.
The joint statement is being viewed as a significant diplomatic achievement for India, which was able to bridge differences between Iran and the UAE over the Middle East conflict. In a further indication of progress between Tehran and Abu Dhabi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a one-on-one meeting in New Delhi on the margins of the summit.
Separately, the Congress attacked the government over the fully vegetarian fare offered to world leaders at the summit, describing it as an attempt by the BJP to impose its dietary preferences on the international community. Party leader Pawan Khera said on X that the BJP's tendency to impose its food choices on Indians was already a problem, and that it had now extended this approach to foreign dignitaries.
The BJP responded sharply, accusing the Congress of reducing a major diplomatic occasion to a question of food rather than policy. It said the Opposition had failed to engage with the summit's resolutions, its discussions on global challenges, or India's success in building consensus among BRICS members. The Congress, the BJP added, was sulking over India's growing influence on the world stage and, finding no substantive ground for criticism, had settled on the dinner menu.
The Congress has also demanded that the government disclose the details of the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.