Forging Stronger Bonds!
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi will depart for Johannesburg today to participate in the 15th BRICS Summit that will be held from August 22-24. Giving details about the PM’s trip, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said the theme of this year’s summit is: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism”.
The summit will see Modi coming face to face with Xi, while neither side has proposed an official bilateral dialogue yet, both sides haven’t ruled out a meeting as 2 leaders will remain together in Johannesburg for almost 48 hours. Apart from participating in discussions on issues related to economic cooperation, food security and Brics expansion, PM Modi is also expected to underscore at the summit the need for memberstates to respect each other’s security interests and to speak in one voice against terrorism.
“The summit will provide an opportunity to review progress of the initiatives launched by the grouping and identify future areas of activity,” the external affairs ministry said in a press release. A business delegation will also travel with PM Narendra Modi to South Africa.