Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Russia for the 16th BRICS Summit beginning on Tuesday, October 22. The Indian Prime Minister has been invited by the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This visit marks Modi's second trip to Russia in 2024, following a bilateral summit in Moscow earlier in July. He had recently visited Russia’s Moscow in July which marked his first foreign trip after assuming office as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term.
The Summit is scheduled for October 22 and 23 and will be held in Kazan.
“Mr Modi will depart for Kazan tomorrow to attend the summit. He said, India is a founding member of BRICS and has participated in all of its activities, initiatives and engagements since its inception,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said while briefing reporters on Monday.
BRICS Summit 2024
The theme for the 16th BRICS Summit is "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security."
The Summit will be chaired by Russia and will focus on multilateralism and global security. It is expected to offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration. The Russian President hopes to build up BRICS as a powerful counterweight to the West in global politics and trade.
“The countries in our association are essentially the drivers of global economic growth. In the foreseeable future, BRICS will generate the main increase in global GDP. The economic growth of BRICS members will increasingly depend less on external influence or interference. This is essentially economic sovereignty,” Putin said at the BRICS business forum in Moscow.
Leaders expected to attend BRICS Summit 2024
Leaders of BRICS member nations will be attending the summit including Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian,
Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend the summit, raising anticipation about a possible meeting between Modi and Xi. Recent discussions between Indian and Chinese foreign ministers and national security advisors have aimed at resolving ongoing border tensions, although a breakthrough remains elusive.
Discussions about multilateralism and equitable global governance will lead the summit. President Putin expressed confidence that BRICS will increasingly operate with economic sovereignty, less influenced by external forces.
This year's new members including Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia joined the intergovernmental organization which was originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
BRICS 2024 schedule
The summit will be held over two days:
October 22: The day will commence with a formal welcome and an exclusive dinner for summit leaders.
October 23: The second and the main day of the summit will feature a closed plenary session in the morning, followed by an open session in the afternoon. Discussions will revolve around the theme and leaders are also expected to adopt the "Kazan Declaration," which is currently in the final stages of negotiation.
PM Modi is expected to return to India on the evening of October 23.
Bilateral Talks With China On Table
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said that PM Modi is also expected to hold bilateral talks with other BRICS leaders and invited leaders during his visit. While the Prime Minister will hold talks with all the leaders, all eyes are on China.
The MEA said that diplomatic and military-level talks have been ongoing for several weeks between India and China.
"I can share with you that over the last several weeks, diplomatic and military negotiations are going on - agreement has arrived on patrolling, leading to disengagement. As far as the question on the Bilateral meeting - It's a multilateral event- though there is the provision of course for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines. We are currently looking into the overall programme of the PM - there are a number of requests for bilateral meetings and we will update you on bilateral as they evolve as soon as feasible," an MEA spokesperson said.
Addressing the issue of Indians in Russian forces, an MEA further addressed the issue of Indians in Russian forces and said that India has been un contact with Russia regarding this matter.
"We have been in close touch with Russia on issues of Indians who are illegally or otherwise contracted in fighting - this matter has been taken up at the highest level - 85 peoples have returned, 20 people still remain," the spokesperson said.
