Assam Congress leader Aminul Islam on Sunday, 13 September 2026, publicly questioned the outcomes of the BRICS Summit hosted by India, asking whether the high-level gathering had produced any tangible progress on critical strategic concerns — including the state of India-China relations, the fallout from the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, and developments around the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, Islam called on the Union government to clarify what the summit had concretely delivered for India's national and strategic interests.

Key Questions Raised

Islam pressed the government on whether substantive dialogue had taken place regarding the ongoing tensions in India-China relations and whether the Galwan Valley situation had featured in any bilateral or multilateral deliberations at the summit. He specifically questioned whether the meeting had gone beyond broad declarations to address issues with a direct bearing on India's security and economy.

'Are there any better situations in Indo-China relations? Is there any discussion on the Galwan situation, or how the water level in the Brahmaputra has dropped by 40 per cent since 2022?' Islam said.

Brahmaputra Water Levels and China Link

The Congress leader also raised the issue of the Brahmaputra river, claiming its water levels had declined by 40 per cent since 2022 — a concern he linked to India's broader strategic challenges involving China upstream. He argued that such matters, which affect millions of people in northeast India, deserved explicit attention at a summit of this scale. Notably, concerns over China's dam-building activity on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra — known as the Yarlung Tsangpo inside China — have been a long-standing point of diplomatic friction between the two countries.

Strait of Hormuz and Iran at the Summit

Referring to the participation of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the BRICS Summit, Islam questioned whether India had engaged in substantive discussions with Tehran on developments concerning the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which a significant share of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transits. He argued that any disruption in that corridor carries direct implications for India's energy security and import costs.

Broader Attack on India's Foreign Policy

Islam used the occasion to launch a wider critique of the Union government's foreign policy record, alleging that India's international standing had weakened in recent years. 'Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is just taking photos. India's international relations are basically very bad now. Foreign policy is gradually deteriorating,' he said. The remarks represent the Congress's broader line of attack ahead of a period of heightened geopolitical activity, seeking to frame the BRICS Summit as optics-heavy rather than outcomes-driven.

Context: India-Hosted BRICS Summit

The summit brought together leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping — which now includes several new member states — amid a complex geopolitical environment marked by ongoing conflicts, shifting trade alliances, and evolving multilateral frameworks. India's hosting of the summit was widely seen as an assertion of its rising global profile. Critics, however, including opposition voices like Islam, have argued that headline diplomacy must translate into verifiable gains on bilateral and regional issues before it can be judged a success. Whether the summit produces follow-through on any of the specific concerns raised remains to be seen.