Because the BRICS Summit begins in Kazan on Tuesday, all eyes are on a attainable assembly between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese language President Xi Jinping there. That is the primary summit that will likely be going down after the first-ever growth of BRICS in January this yr.
Whereas the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) has not confirmed the assembly but, Overseas Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday mentioned the Prime Minister is predicted to have “just a few bilaterals throughout his go to, that are presently being labored out”. Modi and Xi had beforehand met briefly in South Africa in August 2023, on the sidelines of the final BRICS Summit.
Chinese language Overseas Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Monday mentioned, “We’ll preserve you posted if something comes up.” China had final week introduced Xi’s attendance on the BRICS Summit, saying “he’ll work with different events to open a brand new period for the International South to hunt energy by way of solidarity”.
In addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, PM Modi and President Xi, collaborating heads of state embrace Turkey President Recep Erdogan and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, amongst others. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will skip the summit in Kazan, owing to medical recommendation, however will be a part of the convention by way of video hyperlink. The leaders are anticipated to debate key international points together with the Ukraine battle and West Asia disaster.
Briefing reporters forward of PM Modi’s two-day go to to Russia for the summit, Misri mentioned, “The leaders are additionally anticipated to undertake the Kazan Declaration which is able to lay the trail ahead for BRICS. This doc is at the moment being negotiated in Kazan.” Whereas the summit ends on October 24, PM Modi will return on October 23 after the periods owing to commitments again dwelling.
There’s additionally a Modi-Putin assembly on Tuesday, their second in latest months. Modi had visited Russia in July.
This can be a main multilateral summit for the Russian President after two-and-half years of battle with Ukraine, and he’s projecting it as an influence second for the Kremlin regardless of Western sanctions. Misri asserted that India views BRICS as a key expression of world multi-polarity. “India’s position on the summit is as an vital voice in a rising debate on multipolarity international governance reforms (similar to UN Safety Council and IMF) and reform in commerce structure similar to WTO,” he mentioned.
The alliance, which goals to counterbalance the Western-led world order, began to quickly broaden this yr. On January 1 this yr, BRICS admitted 4 new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. In the meantime, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally utilized, and quite a few others expressed a need to be members.
Forward of the summit, President Putin mentioned that the BRICS group will generate many of the international financial development within the coming years. He additionally known as for BRICS nations to discover a SWIFT-like cross-border funds system resistant to Western sanctions in addition to use nationwide digital currencies in financing funding initiatives to finish US greenback dominance.
