New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Sambit Patra, on Friday accused the Opposition, particularly the Congress of spreading negativity regarding the BRICS Summit, alleging that they are “not able to digest the reality” of India’s progress.
His reaction comes a day after Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the “tangible benefits” India got out of BRICS.
In a self-made video, Patra said: “The manner in which the Congress party and certain other Opposition parties are trying to spread negativity and create a pessimistic atmosphere regarding the BRICS summit, I feel they need to be shown the mirror. I have with me two significant articles published in major newspapers in 2011 and 2012 concerning BRICS.”
He referred to an article from 2012, headlined: ‘India least attractive BRIC member in valuation terms: Goldman Sachs’, where its then Chairman Jim O’Neill had reportedly said: “It may be difficult for India, China, and Russia to grow at the same rates as they did in the past decade, and this decade Brazil is different because it might surprise us on the upside…In terms of valuation, India is the least attractive.”
Patra mentioned that Jim O’Neill had placed India on the fourth position among the BRIC nations at that time and had even said: “It would come as no surprise if Indonesia were to replace India.”
The BJP leader noted: “Essentially, the article argued that India saw no meaningful reforms around 2012 and was falling behind. With high inflation and a struggling market, India found itself trailing all other BRIC nations.”
Further, Sambit Patra referred to a second article dated September 21, 2011, with the headline: ‘With high inflation and weak currency, India not like other BRIC countries.’
It reportedly stated that inflation in India was the worst among the BRIC nations back then. “Perhaps for the first time in the decade since Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym, BRIC is weakening, and the ‘I’ within it is becoming shaky,” Patra read from the article.
Drawing a contrast between what was reported about India’s economic condition in 2011-12 and today, the BJP MP said: “In 2011–12, India seemed to be losing its standing within the Bloc, while today, the heads of state of all BRICS nations are here in India. Today, India is celebrating BRICS and has found its position in the global arena as never before.”
“Yet, there are some politicians and members of the Opposition who simply cannot digest this reality. Today, certain individuals—some Opposition members and the Congress party—are suffering from ‘indigestion’ because India is forging ahead,” he claimed.
Sambit Patra asserted: “The ‘I’ in BRICS stands for India, and the ‘I’ within that ‘India’ represents its 1.4 billion people. Today, I take pride in being a resident of India and a very strong member of BRICS.”
