PM Modi Departs For Russia to Attend BRICS Summit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday departed for his two-day visit to Russia to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan.
The 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan is being held under the chairmanship of Russia from October 22-24.
During his visit, PM Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and invited leaders in Kazan.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “The Summit, themed ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security,’ will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues.”
It further said, “The Summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration.”
It will be PM Modi’s second visit to Russia in 2024 as he travelled to Moscow in July to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit.
During his visit to Russia, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with President Putin. He was also conferred with Russia’s highest civilian award, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle at the Kremlin in Moscow.
Indian Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, said on Monday that India is a founding member of BRICS and is committed to economic cooperation within the framework of BRICS, which he stressed was a “very foundational principle.”
In an interview, Vinay Kumar stated that some of the issues that are on the agenda in the BRICS Summit set to take place in Kazan include further expansion of economic cooperation, trade settlement in national currencies, sustainable development, particularly PM Modi’s LiFE mission to address the problems of climate change, to work towards further digital inclusion, financial inclusion of the marginalized sections of society, and some of the achievements of India.
On being asked about India’s agenda for the BRICS Summit, Kumar said, “India is a founding member of BRICS and is committed to economic cooperation within the framework of BRICS, which was a very foundational principle. In these years, there has been growing interest in the international community, among several countries of Global South and others to cooperate with BRICS. The main issues that we would be dealing with, what the BRICS has been dealing with, though I cannot prejudge the leader’s conversation.”