New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit Russia from October 22-23 to attend the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan. He will visit the country at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During his two-day visit to the country, the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral talks with leaders of other BRICS nations. Apart from Russia and India, other countries that are also part of BRICS include Brazil, China, and South Africa.
PM Modi’s second visit to Russia this year
Notably, this will be PM Narendra Modi’s second visit to Russia this year. He visited the country in July for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi held a bilateral meeting with the Russian President. During his visit, PM Modi was also conferred with Russia’s highest civilian award, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle at the Kremlin. The two leaders also visited the Rosatom Pavilion at the VDNKh Exhibition Centre in Moscow.
Apart from Putin, PM Narendra Modi may also have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. If both leaders meet, this would be the first time tha they will meet since Galwan issue in 2020. Recently, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar had met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi regarding the possibility of the meeting.
What is the theme?
Announcing PM Modi’s visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that the theme of this year’s summit is “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security”.
“The summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration,” the MEA said in a statement.
Last month, Putin had extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi. He had also suggested October 22 as the date for a bilateral meeting between both leaders, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. Putin referred to PM Modi as a “good friend during his invitation.” Putin’s remark had come during his meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting.
This year’s BRICS summit is special
After the expansion of the BRICS organization, the BRICS summit being held in Russia is being considered very important. Russia is constantly talking about the BRICS currency. It is believed that BRICS member countries can come up with an alternative currency to curb the US arbitrariness regarding the dollar. This is the first time since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war that such a big event is being organized in Russia. In view of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Middle East conflict, the decisions taken in the BRICS summit will have far-reaching effects. More than fifty countries have expressed their desire to become members of BRICS. Five new member countries have joined this organization started by Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa. They are – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. This organization, which has 45 percent of the world’s population, has a 28 percent share in the global GDP.
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