PM participates in the BRICS summit. After three years of online sessions, the BRICS summit is now taking place in person.
One of the top priorities on the agenda is BRICS expansion. According to information, 23 or so countries have applied to join the organisation.
All eyes are on a potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he departs on Tuesday for the BRICS (a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit in Johannesburg.
Source: The Sunday Guardian
Since the border impasse started in May 2020, it would be their first scheduled bilateral meeting. Officials did not completely rule out a meeting between the two leaders, saying that the timetable is “still evolving”.
In-person after 3 years:
After three years of online sessions, the BRICS summit is now taking place in person. One of the top priorities on the agenda is BRICS expansion. According to information, 23 or so countries have applied to join the organisation.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters before the trip that “we have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion.”
He said that the Sherpas of the organisation are debating the terms for admitting new members to the BRICS. “I would not wish to predict how the negotiations would turn out, he remarked.”
Source: The Hindu
PM on board for the BRICS summit:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be present at the meeting despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s absence.
The meeting will be attended by Modi from August 22 to 24. He will attend the BRICS Business Forum leaders’ discussion on August 22 after arriving in the afternoon, followed by a BRICS Leaders’ Retreat in the evening. During the leaders’ retreat, it is anticipated that a discussion on current world events and worries resulting from those events would take place.
Modi will take part in the plenary sessions on August 23. A private plenary session will be held to discuss intra-BRICS concerns, multilateral system reform, and counterterrorism.
He will take part in a special gathering called “BRICS – Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue” on August 24 that will feature additional nations that South Africa has invited and is being arranged following the summit.
The issues and goals of the Global South will be explored throughout these sessions, with an emphasis on collaboration with Africa.
The most recent time Modi travelled there was in July 2018 for the 10th BRICS meeting. In July 2016, he travelled on a bilateral visit as well. Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, travelled to India in January 2019 to attend Republic Day celebrations as the principal guest.
Modi will go to Greece on August 25 at the request of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister of that country, following his trip to South Africa.
India – China ties:
“The prime minister will speak with prime minister Mitsotakis to explore how to strengthen their friendship even more. He will converse with corporate executives from both nations as well as the Indian community in Greece, according to Kwatra.
According to the MEA, India and Greece have strong cultural linkages that have become stronger in recent years as a result of collaboration in fields including marine transportation, defence, trade, and investments, as well as interpersonal relationships.
The latest Indian prime minister to travel to Greece was Indira Gandhi in September 1983. Andreas Papandreou, the prime minister of Greece at the time, made three trips to India: in November 1984 for Indira Gandhi’s burial, in January 1985 to attend a meeting on nuclear disarmament, and in January 1986 to attend a Republic Day event as the primary guest.
