Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a visit to Kazan in Russia to the attend the 16th BRICS Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) from October 22-23, 2024. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Russia will hold the BRICS Summit and PM Modi has received an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The MEA said, that the theme of Kazan BRICS Summit is “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security,” will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues.”
It further said, “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 leaders of BRIC countries met for the first time in St Petersburg in Russia in 2006. After a series of high-level meetings, the first BRIC summit was held in Russia’s Yekaterinburg in 2009. Earlier BRIC, was renamed as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York.
BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging economies from the world, comprising 41 per cent of the world population, having 24 per cent of the world GDP and over 16 per cent share in the world trade.
The recent meeting of Putin with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the sidelines of the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting holds immense significance especially when India and US relations are not cordial. Both met at the Constantine Palace in Russia’s St. Petersberg.
Quoting President Putin, the Kremlin in a statement said, “We will be expecting Mr Modi in Kazan. I also suggest holding a bilateral meeting there on October 22 in order to close the books on our joint work in implementing the agreements reached during his visit to Moscow and outline some prospects for the near future.”
It will be PM Narendra Modi’s second visit to Russia in 2024 as he travelled to Moscow in July to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. During his visit to Russia, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Putin.
