Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Johannesburg, South Africa as BRICS summit starts today. South Africa will be hosting BRICS Summit 2023 which will be participated by all the five Nations which are Brazil Russia India China and South Africa. PM Modi left for the Summit early in the morning on the invitation of South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister’s Office said. The theme for this year’s summit is “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism”.
After 2019, this is the first real time BRICS summit where the world leaders will get together. For the past three years, the Summit was being held virtually due to the spread of Covid-19 globally. Other than the BRICS Nations, South Africa and Greece have invited many other countries and the guest list is huge informed foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra. He also mentioned that one of the business delegation is also travelling to South Africa for attending the Businesse Tracks Meetings.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding bilateral talks with several other leaders who are present at the venue. Some sources suggest that the bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will also take place. Although, no official statement has been made regarding the same. However, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said in his statement that PM Modi’s schedule is “still being developed.” “We have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion,” he stated.
PM Modi before leaving for the Summit said that the summit will make way for opportunity for its members to identify future areas of cooperation as well as review institutional development. He also mentioned that he is planning to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders present in Johannesburg. PM Modi will return to India on 24 August as the 15th BRICS Summit will be held from 22 to 24 August 2023. Modi added that he will travel to Athens, Greece on August 25 on the invitation by Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. This will make him the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece after 40 years.
