PM Modi arrives in South Africa to attend 15th BRICS summit

Leaving for South Africa to take part in the BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg. I will also take part in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue events. The Summit will give the platform to discuss issues of concern for the Global South and other areas of…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2023

This will be the first in-person summit of the BRICS sates of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019.

PM Modi’s departure statement said: “BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. We value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system. This Summit will provide a useful opportunity for BRICS to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development.”

The PM will attend the BRICS Business Forum leaders’ dialogue today, followed by a BRICS Leaders’ Retreat in the evening. A discussion on global developments and concerns arising out of those developments is expected during the leaders’ retreat.

On August 23, Modi will participate in the plenary sessions – there will be a closed plenary session which will focus on intra-BRICS issues, reform of the multilateral system and counter-terrorism. Finally, on August 24, he will participate in a special event, “BRICS – Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue”, being organised after the summit, which will include other countries invited by South Africa. During these sessions, the concerns and priorities of the Global South will be discussed, where the focus will be on partnership with Africa.

In this backdrop, all eyes are on a possible meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which would be their first scheduled bilateral meeting since the border standoff began in May 2020.

After South Africa, PM Modi is slated to travel to Greece, becoming the first Indian PM to travel to the country in the last four decades.